Recognising, tracking and countering disinformation

From the 2016 U.S. presidential election to disinformation about the Covid-19 pandemic participants will have a greater appreciation of disinformation as a global phenomenon, used by state and non-state agents alike. The webinar series will discuss the marketing, political, and technological strategies malicious actors are employing. The series will discuss case studies of how disinformation and information operations have changed in recent history, and what can be learned from this history. Participants will learn how to recognise, track and counter disinformation.

Learning outcomes

• Understand the strategies and techniques used to persuade audiences in new communication ecosystems
• Know how to find tools and resources that can help identify disinformation
• Know how to recognise and track disinformation online
• Know how to critically assess the narratives encountered on social media and other media/forums
• Know how to recognise the difference between legitimate differences in opinion and disinformation.
• Know how fact checking and verification works and how to critically engage in discussions about what counts as truth.
• Have a broad understanding of the various efforts and proposals for countering disinformation in democratic societies.

Register your interest

To register your interest, email jane.mcalear@unimelb.edu.au.

Testimonial

The University of Melbourne is clearly at the forefront of research into the global phenomena of disinformation.
The three-part series was a fascinating insight into recognising, tracking and countering disinformation and the dark arts of media bias, influencing public opinions, changing election outcomes, conspiracies and the active measures bad actors use to weaponise disinformation to win hearts and minds.
Fake news seems to permeate every facet of global communications from social media to mainstream reporting and it was particularly interesting to learn about different techniques to counter and critically assess narratives to help make sense of what is real and what is not.
We feel we now know more about how to identify and assess the problem.

Leidos Australia