This Conference will provide a unique opportunity to take stock of the achievements made in tackling online disinformation in Europe and will look at the way forward in view of the upcoming European Parliament elections.
One year after launching the initiative on online disinformation, the European Commission invites participants to the conference “Countering online disinformation” to reflect on the progress made and to step up efforts to secure free and fair democratic processes in view of the 2019 European Parliament elections and more than 50 presidential, national or local/regional elections being held in Member States by 2020.
The programme is available.https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market
___________Protecting users from disinformation: the industry Code of Practice
08:30-09:00 Registration and welcome coffee09:00-09:15 Keynote speech by Commissioner Mariya Gabriel
09:15-09:30 EU initiatives on disinformation, Giuseppe Abbamonte, Director
Media Policy, European Commission09:30-10:30 Report from the signatories of the Code of Practice: What are signatories doing to combat disinformation, particularly in the electoral context? Moderator: Giuseppe Abbamonte, European Commission
# Report from Thomas Myrup Kristensen, Facebook
# Report from Jon Steinberg, Google
# Report from Stephen Turner, Twitter10:30-10:45 Q&A session
10:45-11:00 Coffee Break
11:00-11:15 Keynote speech by Rasmus Nielsen, Director of Research, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
11:15-12:15 Panel discussion – What should be expected from the Code of Practice in view of the EP elections and beyond?
Moderator: Rasmus Nielsen, Director of Research, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
• Tania Fajon, MEP
• Ľuboš Kukliš, ERGA Chairperson
• Madeleine de Cock Buning, Chair of the High Level Expert Group on Fake News
• Giovanni Zagni, Pagina Politica12:15-12:30 Q&A
12:30-14:00 Networking Lunch
___________Strengthening fact-checking, collective knowledge, and monitoring capacity on disinformation
14:00-14:15 Keynote speech by Gianni Riotta, Luiss
14:15-15:00 Report from fact-checking organisations: How can the fact-checking community help ensure a fair public debate?
Moderator: Paolo Cesarini, European Commission
• Steven Brill, Newsguard
• Clara Jimenez Cruz
• Justyna Kurczabinska, EBU
• Nikos Sarris, SOMA15:00-15:15 Q&A session
15:15-16:00 Panel discussion: How can digital technologies facilitate the detection and analysis of false information?
Moderator: Denis Teyssou, AFP
• Vasillas Koulolias, Co-inform
• Kalina Bontcheva, Weverify
• Nahema Marchal, ComProp16:00-16:15 Q&A Session
16:15-16:30 Coffee Break
16:30-17:15 Panel discussion: how can academic research contribute to a better understanding of disinformation patterns?
Moderator: Madeleine de Cock Buning, Chair of the High Level Expert Group on Fake News
• Luciano Morganti, VUB, MediaRoad
• Guido Cardarelli, Professor IMT Lucca
• Jane Suiter, Professor, School of Communications at Dublin City University
• Anja Bechmann, Aarhus University17:15-17:30 Q&A Session
17:30-17:45 Closing remarks by Claire Bury, Deputy Director General, DG CONNECT
17:45 Networking Cocktail and Exhibition To fake or not to fake – an artistic view on disinformation
19:00 End of the Event