Disinformation is one problem among many in the information environment. It’s also one that is extremely challenging to do anything about.

What does Prussian naturalist Alexander Von Humboldt have to do with cybersecurity?

Calls grow louder to regulate artificial intelligence, counter disinformation, and social media. But how can democracies govern the information environment if they don’t know how it affects people’s thinking and behaviour?

From COVID-19 misinformation to authoritarian crackdowns on democratic protests or hybrid warfare involving information manipulation, the negative impacts that crises have on the information environment can be challenging to reverse, threatening the physical safety of civilians and the democratic stability of societies.

A discussion on the links between information and technology, information competition through history, the need for a better understanding of information ecosystems, whether we’re in an information “civil war,” and much else besides.

A conversation about whether disinformation is something people can even fight and what it might end up costing.

The lines between fact and fiction have become easier to blur as new technologies create wild ecosystems of data.

Three criteria can help democratic governments assess whether an influence operation is acceptable or unacceptable.

The war on “disinformation” skates over important question: What are the collateral effects of anti-disinformation policies? How do interventions against information pollution operate in the real world? 

Researchers, policymakers, and civil society groups need to come together to clarify among themselves and for platforms what type of information would be most helpful to protect the public interest and what framework could ensure this information is feasible for platforms to provide.