About & Team - Lab-Delta

About Lab Delta

The result of a partnership between Alternatives and the University of Montreal, the Laboratory on Online Rights and Alternative Technologies (Lab-Delta) is a research and action laboratory whose main objective is to produce research and tools at the intersection of technology, political activism, and critical thinking.

Lab-Delta stands out for its approach to a free, democratic, and accessible internet for all, and aims to be the first progressive, French-speaking think tank on digital issues. Lab-Delta also wants to become a space for experimentation in community engagement and the adoption of tools, skills, and new digital activism practices so that technologies can be used to develop a society focused on social justice, respect for rights, and equality.

The Laboratory on Online Rights and Alternative Technologies is a project funded by the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) Community Investment Program.

Team

Stéphane Couture - Co-director, researcher and head of the research axis

Stéphane Couture is an associate professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Montreal. His research focuses on issues of digital sovereignty and resistance, digital activism, alternative media, free software, and community digital infrastructure. He helped found the organizations Koumbit and Facil and has collaborated on several other projects with civil society organizations.

Sophie Toupin - Co-director, researcher and collaborator

Sophie Toupin is an assistant professor in the Department of Information and Communication at Laval University. She uses critical approaches, such as feminist, intersectional, anti-colonial, and decolonial, to understand, analyze, and rethink digital technology. She holds a PhD in communication from McGill University.

Christopher Housseaux - Research assistant

Christopher Housseaux is a doctoral student in communication at the University of Montreal. He is the technical coordinator at LabCMO, as well as a research and teaching assistant. He is interested in how fans engage and mobilize digital technologies within online communities. His thesis explored creative practices of social media hijacking during the #MatchAMillion fundraising campaign on Twitter/X. As part of his dissertation, he is interested in forms of fan participation and digital practices that enable intense online collaboration, where communities manage to achieve common goals in a short period of time.

Marvin Ceinos Dumont - Research assistant

Marvin Ceinos Dumont is a doctoral student in communication science at the University of Montreal. With a master’s degree in political communication, he specializes in analyzing the potential of emerging technologies to transform governance. His current research thesis is dedicated to the possibilities of online democracy, with an in-depth exploration of the impact of Web 3.0 and blockchain technology. The central objective of his work is to promote a more direct democracy by using these technological tools in practical ways to intensify and better structure citizen participation.

Matheus Costa - Research assistant

Matheus Costa is a doctoral researcher in communication science at the University of Montreal. His thesis project explores the complex issues surrounding platform regulation in the digital age. The originality of his work lies in a rigorous transnational comparative study that contrasts legislative models and public debates in the United States, Brazil, and Mexico. At Lab-Delta, he is responsible for coordinating the ClaimSov project on digital sovereignty.

Hiba Harchaoui - Research assistant

Hiba Harchaoui is a doctoral student in public communication at Laval University. She is interested in different forms of digital labor, especially those that have emerged as a result of the development of artificial intelligence technologies. She seeks to understand and highlight the role of the often invisible human workforce behind AI systems.

Anderson Pierre - Affiliated student

Anderson Pierre is a master’s student at the University of Montreal, focusing on participatory democracy and the impact of digital media on public discourse. He is particularly interested in the production and circulation of misinformation in crisis contexts. His areas of expertise also include crisis communication and humanitarian communication.

Ikram Belkhir - Affiliated student

Ikram Belkhir is a master’s student in communication sciences in the Department of Communication at the University of Montreal. Her thesis work and research interests focus on algorithmic bias and its effects on marginalized populations.

Vice Benoit - Affiliated student

Vice Benoit holds a bachelor’s degree in cultural action and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in communication at the University of Montreal. His career path combines academic research, cultural mediation, and theater practice. His research interests focus on the instrumentalization and regulation of digital media, as well as social movements and the cultural uses of symbolism in contemporary political contexts and queer approaches.

Zoé Touchard - Affiliated student

Zoe Touchard earned her bachelor’s degree in information and communication sciences at the University of Burgundy Europe (UBE) in France before coming to Quebec to pursue her master’s degree. She works alongside her studies at the Montreal Public Health Center as a communications assistant. She is particularly interested in the impact of misinformation on citizens’ health. She plans to focus her research thesis on this topic and the vulnerabilities it creates.

Marius Ferry - Affiliated student

Marius Ferry is a master’s student in communication sciences at the University of Montreal. With a background in communication and advertising, he has experience in agency work and social media management. His thesis focuses on the influence of design techniques on user behavior, as well as the implementation of artificial intelligence within digital platforms.

Honorary member

Chanel Robin - Research assistant - Laboratory Binder (2023-2024)

Chanel Robin completed her master’s degree in communication sciences in the Department of Communication at the University of Montreal. Her research interests focus on the tensions between different visions of the user-friendliness of digital technologies. She has also worked on negotiations surrounding the infrastructure of alternative social networks in the Fediverse, a topic she explored in her role as a research assistant for Lab Delta.

Kenneth Trueman - Research assistant

Kenneth Trueman is a doctoral student in communication sciences in the Department of Communication at the University of Montreal. His research interests focus on the Metaverse and its impact on the senses according to Marshall McLuhan’s theory.

Adel Aouam - Research assistant

Adel Aouam holds a Master’s degree in Communication Sciences from the Department of Communication at the University of Montreal. His academic and research interests focus on the complex dynamics between media and politics. His thesis highlights a critical contemporary issue: it explores the various circumvention practices developed by cyberactivists to escape mass surveillance. His work aims to analyze how these digital strategies affect freedom of expression and online political organization.

Team 2020-2022

Léonard Buckles – Project manager, Alternatives

Myriam Cloutier – Project manager, Alternatives

Caroline Dubois – Research assistant

Aurélie Girard – Development contractor, Alternatives

Samantha Boucher – Research assistant

Catherine Turgeon – Research assistant

Pauline Rudaz – Research assistant

Eva Giard – Research assistant

Véronique Bolduc – Research assistant

CHAT
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Les candidatures pour l’école d’été 2026 sur le thème « Souveraineté numérique : engagement politique en contexte francophone » sont maintenant ouvertes !!!

About Lab Delta