Since 2026: PhD candidate — Sociology, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany

2022–2025: Master of Arts — Sociology of European Societies, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany Thesis: Weapon or Wonder? The Media's Political Framing of AI Across the Global North and South

2016–2018: Master in Sociology, Federal University of Pernambuco, Brazil Thesis: Government of Algorithms? WikiLeaks, Technopolitics and Invisible Filters on the Society of Control

2010–2015: Bachelor of Social Sciences, Federal University of Pernambuco, Brazil Thesis: Who Controls the Politics of No One? Anonymous Brazil and Hacktivism in Communication Networks

Digital Sociology

Digital Governance

AI and Society

AI companions

Human-computer interaction

Emerging Technologies

Political Emotions

Algorithmic Affects: Media Framing, Power, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Asymmetries Across Europe

Abstract: Far from being merely a technical domain, artificial intelligence (AI) has increasingly emerged as a political infrastructure capable of reshaping democratic institutions and reconfiguring power relations. Dependent on critical minerals, energy-intensive data centers, and highly concentrated computational capacity, AI systems generate new geopolitical dependencies, intensify decision-making opacity through automation by unelected actors, and reconfigures social interactions. Within this landscape, media coverage plays a key role in shaping public perceptions of AI’s risks, promises, and implications. Although previous research has examined AI media coverage in country-specific case studies or bilateral comparisons, there remains a lack of comparative analysis among European nations with differing regulatory traditions and levels of innovation-ecosystem maturity. This project addresses this gap by analysing how the media frame the socioeconomic and emotional dimensions (hope, fear and distrust) of AI. To this end, a longitudinal corpus (2010–2025) will be assembled, comprising nationally circulated newspaper articles. By integrating contributions from the sociology of emotions, critical technology studies, framing theory, and political communication, this study not only proposes an underexplored comparative mapping of European media discourses on AI, but also uncovers democratic vulnerabilities in digital governance, particularly regulatory capture and algorithmic opacity. By situating these narratives within their national institutional contexts, the project provides essential insights for the formulation of policies that promote AI regulation which is more equitable, transparent and aligned with both digital sovereignty and the principles of European democratic governance.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence (AI); Media Framing; Digital Sovereignty; AI Regulation; Big Tech Lobbying; Political emotions