In war, truth is the first casualty – especially in the digital era. In preparation for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine and since then, Russia has spread lies, false accusations and rumours using social media and the internet in general.
To protect us against propaganda and disinformation, we need help to separate facts from fiction. This is the mission of two organizations: Bellingcat, an international investigative research network from the Netherlands, uses open-source intelligence to verify news and posts about the war in Ukraine. The Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) in London, is an independent, non-profit think tank focusing on the rising tide of polarization, extremism, and disinformation worldwide.
During our digital Mercator Talk,
Eliot Higgins, open source researcher and founder of Bellingcat, will explain how publicly available data can be used to track down the person who recently released sensitive top secret US documents about the war. Also, he will give insights into how they are monitoring and logging incidents of civilian harm in Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Julia Smirnova, Senior Analyst at the ISD, deals with the topics of the proliferation of disinformation, conspiracy myths and hate speech online. She will share the results of her research into German- and Russian-language disinformation and hate speech against Ukrainian refugees in Germany.
The digital event will be hosted by
Louis Klamroth, journalist and moderator.
It is the fifth Mercator Talk organized by Stiftung Mercator to mark the anniversary of the Russian war of aggression on Ukraine.
PROGRAM5:00 - 5:05 p.m.Welcome
5:05 – 6:00 p.m.Moderated discussion between the guests and the host. Questions from the participants via chat. The event will be streamed via the Mercator event app.
REGISTRATION
Click on this
LINK and register by 24.5.2023.