Disinformation, Free Speech, and Democracy in a Time of Division: Webinar Mar 16

The National Institute for Civil Discourse is holding a webinar on how to address misinformation. The Institute's animating principle is that "people with different values and political preferences can discuss their differences in a civil and productive manner."  (https://nicd.arizona.edu). See the announcement below. 

How can communities build resilience to these threats and restore trust in each other to protect our democracy and engage our differences productively, while at the same time protecting free speech?  In this session, Jillian Youngblood and Todd Levinson of Civic Genius , will share examples of digital disinformation, explore points of intervention to help combat it and share information about a program designed to work within our communities to build civic resilience.   Register here to join this session on March 16 at 12:00 pm CST  (1:00 pm EST) for this session.

Background:  The forces of division have long known that pitting us against each other is a potent way to mobilize us.  The internet, social media, and easy connection through our mobile devices, are being leveraged to help sow confusion, disruption, disinformation and polarization. Deception and manipulation of news and information pre-date the internet, but its acceleration, reach and scale are greater on the web. Mis/disinformation represents a threat to our society and democracy, undermines elections, fractures public trust and gets in the way of advancing solutions to our pressing issues.