The spread of online disinformation is a threat that can deeply affect our society by hampering the ability of citizens to make informed choices, disrupting electoral processes and breaking the integrity of our democratic institutions. Its complexity represents a challenge that needs to be tackled on multiple fronts and through a more holistic approach.
In light of this, on November 12th ECAS held the Online Disinformation: Finding the silver bullet in the digital world conference, which focused on exploring solutions to countering online disinformation. By involving diverse stakeholders working in the field, participants took stock of the achievements made in tackling online disinformation in Europe and looked at the way forward to protect citizens from this threat.
The event featured two interactive panels where decision-makers, tech platforms, civil society organisations, civic campaigners and academics ‘challenged’ and commented each other’s positions on the subject of ‘online disinformation’. The panels went through different aspects of the problem: the first debated a possible regulatory approach to tackle online disinformation. The second panel presented efficient initiatives and actions to empower citizens and to build the necessary resilience to ensure a prosperous, safe and democratic digital future for European citizens.
Read the full report from the conference, with key highlights and take-home messages, here.
Access a gallery of pictures from the event here.
You can access the following presentations made at the conference:
Keynote speaker Delphine Colard, Acting Head of Spokesperson’s Unit and Deputy spokesperson, European Parliament – Fake news in the European parliament
Elisabetta Biasin, Legal Researcher, KU Leuven Centre for IT & IP Law – Online Disinformation: fostering the debate. Reflections, concerns, regulatory challenges
Annija Emersone, Senior Project Manager, ManaBalss- Smart eDemocracy against fake news
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This conference was organised with the support of the European Economic and Social Committee
