A ‘Disinformation Year’ in Review

Join Women in International Security (WIIS) for a timely conversation on misinformation and disinformation with Kate Starbird, Associate Professor in the Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering (HCDE) and Director of the Emerging Capacities of Mass Participation (emCOMP) Laboratory, and Alicia Wanless, Director of Research at Alton Corp and the Co-Director of the Partnership for Countering Influence Operations at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Speakers will discuss their 2020 year in review through the lens of their research into mis- and disinformation. After a brief talk from both Kate and Alicia the webinar will move into an extended Q&A session to give plenty of room for what is undoubtedly going to be a fascinating discussion between these two women and our members.

Kate‘s research examines how people use social media to seek, share, and make sense of information after natural disasters (such as earthquakes and hurricanes) and man-made disasters (such as acts of terrorism and mass shooting events). More recently, her work has shifted to focus on the spread of disinformation in this context. Kate is interested in the vast potential for online social platforms to empower people to work together to solve problems, as well as salient concerns related to abuse and manipulation of and through these platforms and the consequent erosion of trust in information.

Alicia researches how we shape and are shaped by a changing information space. With more than a decade of experience in researching and analysing the information environment, focusing on propaganda and information warfare, Alicia conducts content and network analysis, and has developed original models for identifying and analysing digital propaganda campaigns. Alicia applies this learning to support government, military and major tech companies to develop policies and integrate information activities into training programs that better reflect how the information environment is manipulated.

To register your interest in this event, please follow the link posted above.

Zoom details will be sent to out on the day of the event.