re:publica 23

This year’s three-day program includes inspiring lectures, discussions, workshops, performances and a lot more on topics related to the web, its communities and the opportunities and challenges connected to the digitalization of society.

2 conferences, held in English, will have a focus on disinformation:

Going forward disinformation will have a price tag, or: What the EU’s Digital Services Act will bring

07.06.2023 10:00 am– 11:00 am

with Lea Frühwirth, Rita Jonušaitė, Heather Dannyelle Thompson, Cathleen Berger

The world of disinformation is about to change. At least, when it comes to monitoring, understanding, and moderating content online. Disinformation aims to sow discord, fuel unrest, and polarise society; it is spread in a targeted, intentional manner. And, until now, it has often been difficult to counter and/or take-down because content may be misleading, awful, or false, but not necessarily illegal. In a few months, the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) will become applicable and change the digital landscape, with effects beyond Europe. In our panel discussion, we aim to cover and explain three interlinked aspects of the disinformation space: 

• The status quo: platform terms of services and content policies, as well as the role of monitoring and research. 

• The upcoming state of the art: defining disinformation as a systemic risk to society, the role of vetted researchers and civil society participation. 
• Future threats to prepare for: technology trends and the DSA’s applicability, as well as ideas for how to tackle these from a research and civil society perspective. 

Our renowned panelists will share insights from their own work and help us draw attention to the myriad of possibilities for strengthening both, our understanding of disinformation as well as the resilience of public discourse online. 

A Citizens’ Struggle: combatting disinformation by self-organised online communities. Perspectives from Ukraine

07.06.2023 12:30 pm– 01:30 pm

with Mauritius Dorn, Mykola Kozlenko, Anton Protsiuk, Friederike von Franque

Wikipedia is the only top 10 website in the world where content is entirely maintained by a community. It is also an important source of facts and knowledge about any major global development. Communities of editors and contributors put care and effort in ensuring that the information presented is true, factual and well documented also under rapidly evolving circumstances. What are the key mechanisms for transparency and good collective enforcement of rules? How does community governance manage risks of disinformation?

Anton Protsiuk and Mykola Kozlenko from Wikimedia Ukraine will present cases and stories illustrating these efforts around articles, imagery and conversations between editors. Mauritius Dorn, from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), will give a broader overview of the disinformation situation with a focus on Kremlin propaganda and monetarization of disinformation before presenting strategies for dealing with disinformation campaigns.