Bad News Travels Fast, Fake News Travels Faster 

This conference aims to bring together experts from different fields, such as health, environment, and politics, to discuss problems caused by and ways that we can combat mis- and disinformation. Sessions are themed according to the problem, rather than subject area, so that experts from these different fields can share their points of view and, perhaps, even learn from each other’s experiences. The one exception to this rule afternoon is the afternoon discussion on the influence of misinformation on elections. Democracy affects all parts of life. 

Programme

10:00 Welcoming Remarks 

Alva Finn, Executive Director, European Liberal Forum 
Judith Bunting, Former MEP, Liberal Democrats 

10:10 The State of Play – What is the status of mis and disinformation in 2023?  

Moderator: Judith Bunting, Former MEP, Liberal Democrats 

Speaker:  Yasmin Merali, Emeritus Professor of Systems Thinking, leadership and Education & Expert Advisor and Evaluator, EU and UK Research Councils 

10:40 Presentation of the new Research Paper

Moderator: Judith Bunting, Former MEP, Liberal Democrats 

Speakers:  

Abel Bojar, Research Director, 21 Research Center 
Szabolcs Sober, Project Manager, Indistuk  

11:15 What Happens When We Can’t Tell What’s Real?

Moderator: Elesa Zehndorfer, award-winning writer and author of five titles for Routledge across political, finance & business genres 

Speakers:  

Joscha Weber, Head of Factchecking, Deutsche Welle  
Prof Sir Andrew Pollard, Director, Oxford Vaccine Group  
Stuart Mackie, Director Hybrid Influence, The European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats (TBC) 
Martyna Bildziukiewicz, Disinformation Expert, Head of the East Stratcom Task Force (TBC) 

12:15 Education in a Time of Misinformation

Moderator: Yasmin Merali, Emeritus Professor of Systems Thinking, leadership and Education & Expert Advisor and Evaluator, EU and UK Research Councils  

Speakers:  

Kari Kivinen, Former Secretary-General of the European School system, Contributor to the Stanford Report: Science Education in a Time of Misinformation 
Rasmus Nielsen, Professor of Political Communication, current Director of the Oxford Martin Programme for Science, Misinformation and the Media (TBC) 
Debbie Ramsay, Commissioning Editor for C4 Current Affairs, former Editor of Radio 1 and 1Xtra Newsbeat at BBC News at BBC News  
Dominic Minghella, Television Producer and Screenwriter 
Dr Michael Walsh, Senior Lecturer, University of Stirling 

14:00 Disinformation and the Subversion of Elections, is there hope for the Future?

Speakers:  

Rasmus Nielsen, Professor of Political Communication, current Director of the Oxford Martin Programme for Science, Misinformation and the Media (TBC) 
Marek Palczewski, Professor at the Warsaw University of Social Sciences, Author of Fake News in Politics 
Elesa Zehndorfer, award-winning writer and author of five titles for Routledge across political, finance & business genres 
Alice Stollmeyer, Executive Director, Defending Democracy Institute (TBC) 

15:00 Who’s Responsibility is it to Fix the Problem? 

Moderator: Judith Bunting, Former MEP, Liberal Democrats 

Speakers:  

Michaela Palladino, Safety Policy Manager, Meta 
Matthew Mckew, Advocacy Lead, Social Value UK 
Marek Palczewski, Professor at the Warsaw University of Social Sciences, Author of Fake News in Politics 
Katalin Cseh, MEP, Momentum Hungary (TBC) 

16:00 Keynote Interview

Moderator: Judith Bunting, Former MEP, Liberal Democrats 

Speaker: Martyna Bildziukiewicz, Disinformation Expert, Head of the East Stratcom Task Force (TBC)