(Cancelled due to COVID-19 Campus Closures)
Friday, April 3, 2:00 pm
Carroll Hall, Room 111
Misinformation and disinformation are nothing new in American democracy, but the internet and social media have accelerated their spread and amplified their impact.
On April 3, leading experts affiliated with Carolina’s Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life (CITAP) will examine how this new information landscape is influencing our personal beliefs and political leanings, and its cumulative effect on democracy.
The panel discussion, “Free Speech, Paid Speech, and Fake Speech in Democracy,” will touch on a variety of pressing issues from social media echo chambers and algorithmic micro targeting to increased partisanship and declining trust in traditional institutions. CITAP panelists will help audience members understand how we got where we are today, what is at stake for the future, and what is necessary to change course.
Panelists will include Deen Freelon, Daniel Kreiss, Alice Marwick, and Zeynep Tufekci from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Tressie McMillan Cottom from Virginia Commonwealth University. David Ardia, Associate Professor at the UNC School of Law, will moderate.
The panel is part of a larger celebration of CITAP, which launched in July 2019 with support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and Luminate.
A brief reception will follow the panel conclusion. The event is free and open to the public.