Navigating “Fake News”, Conspiracy Theories and Disinformation

Held at Bellevue City Hall, 450 110th Ave NE, Bellevue, WA 98004

How has the emergence of “fake news” and conspiracy theories reshaped our understanding of national and local events?

Recent public attention and debate around “fake news” has highlighted the growing challenge of determining what is reliable information in online spaces. This is a complex problem at the intersection of technology, human thinking and social behavior. The abundance of new channels for information make us increasingly vulnerable to absorbing and spreading misinformation. Kate Starbird, UW Assistant Professor, will explore with us what she has learned about how online rumors spread—and how online rumors are corrected—during natural disasters and man-made crisis events. More recently, she has begun exploring the propagation of disinformation and political propaganda through online spaces and what conspiracy theories during crisis events reveal about “fake news”, political propaganda and disinformation.

Kate Starbird is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering at the University of Washington. Her research is situated within human-computer interaction and the emerging field of crisis informatics—the study of the how information-communication technologies are used during crisis events.

Sponsored by the Newport Way Library Association.