ARNIC attends the Ford and Hewlett Foundation ‘Digital Disinformation and Political Polarization’ Scholars Convening

Last week ARNIC members attended a convening organized by the Ford and Hewlett foundations on ‘Digital Disinformation and Political Polarization.’ The meeting bought together researchers from across the country to discuss the research gaps, data needs and real-world application of scholarship into disinformation and political conversation.

Also in attendance were representatives from several top social media platforms including Facebook, Reddit and Twitter. The convening gave researchers the chance to connect with platforms to seek out future partnerships aimed at better understanding the proliferation of ‘fake news’ and the rise of digital disinformation.

Going forward, Ford and Hewlett hope to build a network of researchers across the fields of communication, political science, computer science and psychology in order to better share datasets, ethical guidelines and research output on a wide range of topics related to information integrity.

ARNIC members have been increasingly engaging with topics surrounding digital disinformation and will be working with USC’s Innovation Lab on their related Truthinet project.