This short webinar will explore how misinformation and disinformation spread during crisis events (generally) and in the context of COVID-19 (specifically).

We are particularly vulnerable to the spread of misinformation during times of crisis – due to uncertainty in the information environment and anxiety about what the impacts will be and how we should respond.

COVID-19 represents a perfect storm for misinformation – due to persistent uncertainty surrounding the disease and the public increasingly relying on online information systems where mis- and disinformation are already pervasive.

Kate Starbird is an Associate Professor at the Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering (HCDE) at the University of Washington (UQ). Kate’s research is situated within human-computer interaction and the emerging field of crisis informatics – the study of how social media and other information-communication technologies are used during crisis events.

Currently, her work focuses on the production and spread of online rumors, misinformation, and disinformation in the context of crisis events. Starbird is a co-founder of the UW Center for an Informed Public.

To Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwod-qrqDgvH9PshoEg2rutgP7JzHalrOdW

Registration is required by Aug. 20, 2020 in order to receive meeting details and webinar link.