COVID-19 | The Role of Misinformation and Disinformation in the COVID-19 Pandemic and Recommendations for Change

Name: COVID-19 | The Role of Misinformation and Disinformation in the COVID-19 Pandemic and Recommendations for Change
Start: 2021-10-28T14:00:00-0400
End: 2021-10-28T15:00:00-0400

RSVP Required Open to the Public

In this event, Belfer Fellow, Dr. Syra Madad and her panelist will address the adverse risks of disinformation. From the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, we’re been inundated with mis- and disinformation. The cost of which has translated into higher risk of infection, hospitalization and even death both nationally and globally. Mis- and disinformation has not only influenced people’s perception of risk, it has also shaped public policy decisions. As we look to end this pandemic globally and further pandemic-proof society in the future, this webinar will discuss the role of misinformation and disinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic and recommendations for change.

While this virtual event is on the record, the event organizers prohibit any attendees, including journalists, from audio/visual recording or distributing parts or all of the event program without prior written authorization.

Date: Thu, Oct 28, 2021 Time: 02:00pm - 03:00pm Location: Online

One of the scores of messages on COVID-19 getting circulated on WhatsApp is seen on a mobile phone in Dharmsala, India.

About the Speakers

Renée DiResta is the Technical Research Manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory, a cross-disciplinary program of research, teaching and policy engagement for the study of abuse in current information technologies. Renee investigates the spread of malign narratives across social and media networks. Her work examines the ways in which distinct actors types leverage the information ecosystem to exert influence, from local activists promoting health misinformation and conspiracy theories, to well-resourced full-spectrum information operations executed by state-sponsored actors.

Renée has advised Congress, the State Department, and other academic, civic, and business organizations. At the behest of SSCI, she led outside teams investigating both the Russia-linked Internet Research Agency’s multi-year effort to manipulate American society and elections, and the GRU influence campaign deployed alongside its hack-and-leak operations in the 2016 election. Renée is an Ideas contributor at Wired and The Atlantic, an Emerson Fellow, a 2019 Truman National Security Project fellow, a 2019 Mozilla Fellow in Media, Misinformation, and Trust, a 2017 Presidential Leadership Scholar, and a Council on Foreign Relations term member.

Dr. Katelyn Jetelina is an epidemiologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at University of Texas Health Science Center, School of Public Health, where her research lab resides. In addition, Dr. Jetelina is the founder and sole author of Your Local Epidemiologist, a viral blog that “translates” scientific research and events (like the COVID19 pandemic) to the community. Her blog has reached over 90 million people in the past 18 months and is actively translated into 6 different languages.

Jessica Malaty Rivera is an infectious disease epidemiologist and science communicator. She earned her MS in Emerging Infectious Diseases from Georgetown University School of Medicine and has dedicated the last 15 years of her career to disease surveillance research, public health policy, and vaccine advocacy. Her specialty is in translating complex scientific concepts into impactful, judgement-free, and accessible information for a diverse audience. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she worked as the Science Communication Lead for The COVID Tracking Project at The Atlantic. Currently, she is a Research Fellow at Boston Children's Hospital Innovation & Digital Health Accelerator, an Infection Preventionist for Netflix, an Advisor to the Rockefeller Foundation, and an expert contributor for NBC Bay Area and CNN. Jessica was recently named one of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders by Fortune Magazine for her work on COVID-19 research and data communication. Between her day jobs and being a full-time mother to two little kids, she also dedicates several hours a week to promoting science literacy and debunking misinformation on social media.

Apoorva Mandavilli is a reporter for The New York Times, focusing on science and global health. She is the 2019 winner of the Victor Cohn Prize for Excellence in Medical Science Reporting.

She is the founding editor in chief of Spectrum, an award-winning news site on autism science that grew an audience of millions. She led the team there for 13 years. She joined The Times in May 2020, after two years as a regular contributor.

Ms. Mandavilli has won numerous awards for her writing. Her work has been published in The Atlantic, Slate and The New Yorker online, and in the anthology ”Best American Science and Nature Writing.”

She co-founded Culture Dish, an organization dedicated to enhancing diversity in science journalism, and was the founding chair of the Diversity Committee for the National Association of Science Writers. Ms. Mandavilli has a Master of Arts degree in journalism from New York University and a Master of Science degree in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is fluent in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada.