The Disinformation Threat in Modern-Day Britain

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The Disinformation Threat in Modern-Day Britain

5th December 2022 @ 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm

The rise of social media platforms and the disinformation warfare many hostile regimes are waging are posing thorny questions for Western liberal democracies. On one hand, propaganda appears to have an effect on people’s views and behaviour – thereby creating strong reasons to restrict disinformation and hateful propaganda disseminated by hostile regimes and individuals. At the same time, drawing a line between an opinion and dangerous propaganda is often hard, thus, any such restrictions could come at the cost of freedoms and liberties strongly protected by Western liberal democracies – like the freedom of speech.

What is the impact of disinformation on people’s views and behaviour and is Britain under threat when it comes to disinformation warfare?

By kind invitation of Lord Gilbert, The Henry Jackson Society is delighted to welcome Dr Helena Ivanov and Chris Pleasance in examining the disinformation threat in modern-day Britain.

 

 

Helena Ivanov is an associate research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society. She recently completed a PhD in International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Her research focuses on the relationship between propaganda and violence against civilians. In her thesis, Helena examined the role propaganda played during the Yugoslav Wars and produced a model for studying propaganda which details the key phases, functions, discourses, and techniques of propaganda (the model itself is applicable to other contexts). Additionally, Helena also served as a Manager at the Centre for International Studies at the LSE.

Prior to her PhD, Helena completed an MPhil in Political Theory at the University of Oxford, and holds a BA in Politics from the University of Belgrade.

 

 

Chris Pleasance is the MailOnline’s chief foreign reporter. He has covered Russia’s 2014 invasion of Ukraine, the Syrian Civil War, the 2016 US election, North Korea’s nuclear programme, ISIS, and since February has covered Putin’s second invasion of Ukraine.

He has seen first-hand how disinformation can be weaponised on the world stage, and is committed to debunking efforts to influence popular opinion through lies and misrepresentation.

 

 

Stephen Gilbert has worked extensively on digital regulation. He chaired the House of Lords Select Committee on digital and communications which produced a number of reports highlighting the risk to freedom of expression posed by the then draft Online Safety Bill.  He also sat on the joint committee that scrutinised the draft Bill.

Stephen’s background is in political campaigning. He led a number of campaigns for the Conservative Party and has been it’s Deputy Chairman. He was David Cameron’s Political Secretary through the coalition government from 2010 to 2015.

 

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EVENT SUMMARY

 

The Henry Jackson Society was pleased to be a part of the discussion in the House of Lords on the threat caused by modern-day disinformation and approaches to this threat going forwards. Lord Gilbert began by introducing the speakers and referencing the current Online Safety Bill, before Dr Helena Ivanov started the discussion by highlighting the way the world is threatened currently, namely by hostile regimes, and the significance this yields. She continued by discussing the role of propaganda and violence to civilians and stating the mechanisms through which propaganda shapes behaviour, including the creation of a numbing effect. Dr Helena Ivanov proceeded by stating the importance of free speech in promoting debate, expressing her belief that restrictions would be both problematic and insufficient, and instead promoting major content warnings on inaccurate information, pressurisation of technology companies to rethink their principles, and authorities engaging in refutation and rebuttal to help with echo chambers. Chris pleasance then stated he doesn’t think we should react to all disinformation, but rather frame the debate on disinformation before it has happened, whilst stressing the need to break up algorithm loops, emphasising free speech cannot be supressed as this will feeds into the hands of propagandists. Finally, the speakers answered questions on the influence of cancel culture, the importance of both silence and historical framing, and the use of humour.

 

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Details

Date:
5th December 2022
Time:
5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Website:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-disinformation-threat-in-modern-day-britain-tickets-476640012107

Venue

Committee Room 3A, House of Lords
Westminster
London, SW1A 0AA United Kingdom
+ Google Map

Other

SPEAKER
Dr Helena Ivanov, Chris Pleasance, Lord Gilbert

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