The third edition of the Global Summit on Disinformation concludes this Thursday with a day in which prominent international speakers will address Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a central axis in disinformation processes. In addition, the impact of verified information will be highlighted with the presentation of six innovative fact-checking projects from different parts of the world.
The day – which will begin at 10 a.m. Argentina time (UTC-3) – will bring together a virtuous project that will show its first results. A prototype driven by Europa Press that, through the use of artificial intelligence, will generate early warnings in the detection of false or misleading information.
The development of AI has opened up the possibility of automating the monitoring of large amounts of unstructured data on disinformation related to the United States, in line with the work of the Digital Forensic Research Lab. In addition, the Google News Initiative and the Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI) will share their advances in AI technologies that enable them to combat disinformation.
The final day of activities at the third edition of the Global Disinformation Summit will feature organizations and innovative projects related to information verification or «fact-checking».
Initiatives from France, Switzerland, Venezuela, Argentina, and several other countries will present their work, ranging from tracking cross-border disinformation to educational projects that teach fact-checking methods to high school students.
Finally, a journalist member of the Climate Change Network led by the Reuters Institute will present her first results based on the axis that will revolve around how to combat disinformation in crisis contexts. The United Nations of Argentina with its Verified project, the Red de Diversidad en el Periodismo and its ongoing fight against gender-based disinformation, and the Latin American Center for Investigative Journalism (CLIP) to expose the «digital mercenaries» will also have their place.
The International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) and Medianálisis will close the day with a proposal to ensure that reliable and verified content reaches more people.
More than 500 people gathered on Wednesday, September 27, after the first meeting of the world event organized by the Inter American Press Association (IAPA), the Fundación para el Periodismo (Bolivia) and Proyecto Desconfío (Argentina).
The focus of the first day of the event was on electoral disinformation, the crisis of confidence in the news, and the importance of making audiences literate. The day began with a round of research from the «Disarming Disinformation» program of the International Center for Journalism (ICFJ). The research, which seeks to highlight who drives and who finances disinformation campaigns in the region, focused on the following topics:
- Disinformation on health issues, with promises of magic cures in Brazil, by the scientific magazine «Questão de Ciência». In this regard, the journalist and biologist Jaqueline Sordi, member of «Questão de Ciência», stated that «there are types of disinformation that can claim lives».
- Disinformation and stigmatization on gender issues, by Chequeado.
- Deception of migrants trying to enter the United States, by a consortium of organizations led by Verificado México.
Electoral disinformation
In the panel on electoral disinformation, Silvio Waisbord, member of the George Washington University, talked to Comprova’s team about the case of massive misleading and false information that occurred in the Brazilian electoral process. Daniel Dessein, president of the Association of Journalistic Entities of Argentina (ADEPA), highlighted the importance of the role of the media in the provision of reliable electoral information.
Trust in the news
The third topic of the day focused on strategies to guarantee the quality of news and recover part of the lost trust in the media by audiences. In this panel, Trusting News presented its actions to boost trust in the media, while the newspaper La Nación of Argentina shared its experience in implementing the indicators of The Trust Project. The Digital Forensic Research Lab of the Atlantic Council showed how it uses open source tools (OSINT) to identify patterns in the flow of digital content in times of elections or migration.
Conclusions
The first day of the Global Disinformation Summit made it clear that research, electoral disinformation and trust in news are three key issues in the fight against disinformation. Participants at the event agreed that further work is needed in these areas to find effective solutions to the problem.
Some lessons learned on the first day
- Silvio Waisbord, member of the George Washington University: «Electoral disinformation is a global problem that threatens democracy. It is important that the media, civil society organizations and governments work together to combat it».
- Michael Greenspon, president of the Inter American Press Association: «Disinformation is possibly a major problem for the foundations of democracy and it is our responsibility to stand united in this fight».
- Adrián Pino, director and co-founder of Proyecto Desconfío: «The role of the media will be central so that the consolidation of our democracies does not fall into the risks of the «facile» disinformation campaigns».
- Daniel Dessein, president of the Association of Journalistic Entities of Argentina (ADEPA): «The media have a fundamental role in the fight against electoral disinformation. It is necessary that we work to guarantee the quality of the information that reaches the audiences».
- Daniel Suárez Pérez, associate researcher at the Digital Forensic Research Lab of the Atlantic Council in Colombia: «The media sometimes play to expose and amplify disinformation narratives».
- Patricia Noboa Armendariz, DW Akademie leader for Latin America: «Information literacy is a key tool to combat disinformation. It is necessary to educate people so that they can identify false information».
Organizers and participants
The Summit, which is held virtually and free of charge, has more than 2,000 registrants from over 700 organizations representing more than 50 countries. Participants include experts, journalists, researchers and technology leaders from the world’s most recognized disinformation initiatives.
For more information, visit: https://cumbredesinformacion.com/.
The III Global Summit on Disinformation 2023 is organized by the Inter-American Press Association, the Fundación para el Periodismo (Bolivia), and Proyecto Desconfío (Argentina). The event is supported by Google News Initiative, the International Fact-Checking Network, the U.S. Embassy in Argentina, the German Embassy in Bolivia, the United Nations Argentina, BancoSol Bolivia, and the Kimberly Green Center for Latin America and the Caribbean (LACC) of Florida International University (FIU).
Accompanying the Summit are International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), Medianálisis, Bolivia Verifica, Asociación Nacional de Prensa de Chile, Fundación GABO, DW Akademie, Infoveritas, Asociación Colombiana de Medios de Información (AMI), Asociación de Entidades Periodísticas Argentinas (ADEPA) and Naciones Unidas Bolivia.