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Professor Sonia Livingstone


Professor of Social Psychology, Department of Media and Communications

Sonia Livingstone

Sonia Livingstone OBE is a professor in the Department of Media and Communications at LSE. Taking a comparative, critical and contextualised approach, Sonia’s research asks why and how the changing conditions of mediation are reshaping everyday practices and possibilities for action, identity and communication rights.

She has published twenty books on media audiences, particularly examining the opportunities and risks for children and young people afforded by digital and online technologies, and with a focus on media literacy, social mediations, and children’s rights in the digital age.

Her most recent books include The Class: Living and Learning in the Digital Age (2016, NYUP), Digital Technologies in the Lives of Young People (edited, 2014, Routledge), Meanings of Audiences (edited, 2013, Routledge) and Media Regulation: Governance and the Interests of Citizens and Consumers (2012, Sage).

Sonia has advised the UK government, European Commission, European Parliament, Council of Europe and other national and international organisations on children’s rights, risks and safety in the digital age. She was awarded the title of Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2014 'for services to children and child internet safety.' 

Sonia is a fellow of the British Academy, the Academy of Social Sciences, the British Psychological Society, the Royal Society for the Arts and fellow and past President of the International Communication Association (ICA). She has been visiting professor at the Universities of Bergen, Copenhagen, Harvard, Illinois, Milan, Oslo, Paris II, Pennsylvania, and Stockholm, and is on the editorial board of several leading journals.

She is on the Executive Board of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety, is a member of the Internet Watch Foundation’s Ethics Committee, is an Expert Advisor to the Council of Europe, and was recently Special Advisor to the House of Lords’ Select Committee on Communications, among other roles. Sonia has received many awards and honours, including honorary doctorates from the University of Montreal, Université Panthéon Assas, the Erasmus University of Rotterdam, the University of the Basque Country, and the University of Copenhagen.

She is currently leading the project Global Kids Online (with UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti and EU Kids Online), and Children’s Data and Privacy Online (funded by the Information Commissioner’s Office) and co-directing The Nurture Network.

She is also writing a book with Alicia Blum-Ross called Parenting for a Digital Future (Oxford University Press), among other research, impact and writing projects. Sonia chaired LSE’s Truth, Trust and Technology Commission in 2017-2018, is working with the Council of Europe on children’s rights in the digital environment, and participates in the European Commission-funded research networks, DigiLitEY and MakEY. She runs a blog called www.parenting.digital and contributes to the LSE’s Media Policy Project blog.


Expertise: children and new media; internet use; media audiences; media literacy; mediated participation; online risks and safety; public engagement with communication regulation

Professor Sonia Livingstone about Children Online

Professor Sonia Livingstone about Children Online Professor Sonia Livingstone about Children Online
Sonia Livingstone, professor of Social Psychology at the Department of Media & Communications at LSE, talks about children's online risks and opportunities in the digital era as well as children's rights.

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