“SYMPOSIUM: Digital Disinformation and the Threat to Democracy: Information Integrity in the 2020 Elections”

Message from Ellen Weintraub:

SYMPOSIUM: 

Digital Disinformation and the Threat to Democracy:

Information Integrity in the 2020 Elections

As the technology for manipulation of information steadily advances, and malicious outsiders and foreign influence operators resort to the dissemination of false and altered content, the threat to our democratic process grows. If we collectively fail to contain this problem in 2020, disclosure will be undermined and public faith in our elections may be difficult to restore.

Please join me for an exciting and very topical symposium, Digital Disinformation and the Threat to Democracy: Information Integrity in the 2020 Elections. I’m hosting the event with PEN America and the Global Digital Policy Incubator of Stanford’s Cyber Policy Center. The symposium will be held at the FEC’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. (1050 First Street, NE) on Tuesday, September 17, from 8:30 AM to 1 PM

This symposium will bring together leading figures from major tech companies and social media platforms, scholars, researchers, journalists, and national political organizations for an in-depth and solutions-oriented discussion on fighting the disinformation that risks further corroding our democracy. Among the speakers will be Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.), who have each advanced proposals addressing deep fakes and enhancing election security, and former DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff.  Also participating will be Camille Francois of Graphika, Katie Harbath of Facebook, Kevin Kane of Twitter, Ginny Badanes of Microsoft, Nate Miller of Avaaz, and Laura Rosenberger of the Alliance for Securing Democracy, and Clement Wolf of Google.

Doors open at 8 AM. We encourage you to arrive early to leave time for security procedures.  Please RSVP here by Friday, September 13: https://pen.org/event/digital-disinformation-2020-elections/ 

The event will be live-streamed at: https://www.fec.gov/disinformation  

AGENDA

8:00     Doors open

8:30 – 9:00      Coffee & registration

9:00 – 9:15      Introduction: Framing the challenge

9:15 – 9:45      Keynote: Senator Mark Warner of Virginia

9:45 – 11:00    Session 1: Understanding the challenge: How disinformation and new technologies affect the way we think & what we have learned from the international experience

11:00 – 12:45  Session 2: Facing the challenge in the U.S.: Solutions in the fight to save the 2020 elections

12:45 – 1:00    Closing and next steps

Share this: