IN-PERSON PROGRAMME AT THE NAS BUILDING

Thursday May 25 – 1pm-3:30pm

By invitation only, no streaming.

Project Hope 

This will be a deep dive on the exciting new research findings that the IPIE’s Scientific panels have produced, showing enormous promise for managing the information environment back from the brink where it is currently headed. Using 3000 leading journal articles, a global survey of misinformation experts, and other resources, there is good news for the future in both the data and the scientific approach used to produce it. 

The speakers are:  

Wendy Hui Kyong Chun, PhD – Vice Chair, IPIE Scientific Panel 

Sebastian Valenzuela, PhD – Chair, IPIE Scientific Panel 

Phillip Howard, PhD – Moderator and Chair, International Panel on the Information Environment 

Combatting Health and Climate Mis/disinformation 

Health and climate misinformation and disinformation delay individual and political action on key issues. In this session, we will discuss how behavioral science can be used to develop and test solutions that can drive individual and system change in the context of climate and health misinformation. The session will begin with two short presentations defining the scope of the problem of mis/disinformation, from the health perspective and then the climate perspective: 

1. Sources of mis/disinformation  
2. The media through which they spread 
3. The impact on individuals and society 

Followed by small group collaborative sessions with the goal of mapping solutions and documenting failures across these two domains. 

The speakers are:  

Victor Galaz: Associate professor in political science at the Stockholm Resilience Centre (Stockholm University), and programme director of the Beijer Institute’s Governance, Technology and Complexity programme at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. 

Constantine Manda: Assistant Professor of Political Science in the Department of Political Science at the University of California, Irvine 

Hope with a Plan  

Operationalising the 10-point plan to address our information crisis. 

Globally, we are in the grips of an information crisis. The huge potential of technology is being undermined by dominant social media platforms pursuing profit at the expense of democracy and social cohesion.  

Polarisation and disinformation undermine independent journalism, our ability to live in harmony with one another and to address global challenges such as climate change, pandemics, racism, sexism, and inequality.  

That is why promoting solutions that will create meaningful change will benefit us all. Together, we can reclaim our experiences online and rebuild an Internet where ideas can be exchanged, facts protected, and everyone treated equally.  

To do that, Peace Nobel Laureates Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov have developed a 10-Point Plan to Address the Information Crisis. 

The 10-Point Plan is a manifesto for change. Signed by over 200 organisations and individuals from around the world, it offers a framework for a world in which technology is built in service of humanity, and sets out the steps needed to bring about systemic change.  

 It includes: 

• Protecting citizens’ rights to privacy with robust and properly enforced data protection laws. 
• Ending the tracking and harvesting of users’ personal data. 
• Reforming the algorithms which promote disinformation and lies. 
• Ensuring Big Tech companies treat people everywhere equally.   
• Investing in and supporting independent journalism.  

Through an interactive discussion between high-level experts and the audience the breakout session will allow participants to:   

• Hear direct testimonies of the wide ranging impact of disinformation in different corners of the world, from Syria, to Brazil, the US, and The Philippines.  
• Get to the heart of the problem behind the large scale mis- and disinformation online: companies’ business models, lack of transparency, and algorithmic amplification.  
• Delve into systemic solutions and explore opportunities and challenges in implementing the actions presented in the 10 Point Plan. 

Moderator:  

Stephen King, CEO of Luminate  

Panellists: 

Maria Ressa, CEO of Rappler and 2021 Peace Nobel Laureate.  

Yael Eisenstat, Vice President at the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Head of the Center for Technology & Society (CTS). 

Laila Kiki, Executive Director, The Syria Campaign and author of the Deadly Disinformation Report. 

Patricia Campos Mello, Brazilian journalist at Folha de S.Paulo, former Research Scholar at Columbia University, and winner of the Cabot award, International Press Freedom Award, and King of Spain award.  

Finn Myrstad, Director of Digital Policy at Forbrukerrådet, Co-Chair of the Digital Committee of the Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue. 

Come Together: Inclusion against disinformation 

Disinformation has been a significant driver of prejudice, hate speech, and online harm.  

Social media algorithms have enabled the accelerated spread of conspiracy theories and extremist agendas. Those frequently most at risk of these online harms are minorities, marginalised and underrepresented groups in society. “Us v Them” narratives used by disinformation actors often drive division, and hate.   

Understanding and addressing the different needs and threats requires a holistic ‘whole-of-society’ approach that brings diverse parts of society together, with coordinated action across a range of stakeholders. That means taking into account the shared, intersectional, and unique experiences of different groups, including marginalised communities.  

Community organisers, campaigners, and communicators have stories to tell. Their experiences can drive solutions and redress, to help protect communities, and promote trust. Bringing together tech innovation, human experience and understanding, we might be able to generate the hope we need.  

This panel will look at how a holistic approach to driving cooperation can provide methods and tools tackling online hate and harms that serve all members of our societies. 

Organised by: Alliance4Europe