Research Tuesdays: Digi-proofing democracy

Tue Aug 09 2022 at 05:30 pm to 06:30 pm

The Braggs Building - The University of Adelaide | Adelaide

Research Tuesdays
Publisher/HostResearch Tuesdays
Research Tuesdays: Digi-proofing democracy
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Data manipulation is an ever-increasing danger. Join us to find out how we can we safeguard Australia on the digital frontier.
About this Event

National security threats no longer come only via land, sea, or air. In today’s changing technological environment, data manipulation is an ever-increasing danger.

In 2018, over 80 million Facebook profiles were targeted during Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, exposing unprecedented potential for political disruption. Throughout the pandemic, anti-vaccine information has been threatening healthcare systems, and now there are mounting concerns that propaganda could impact global responses to the invasion of Ukraine.

Having recently played a leading role in the first cohesive assessment of this emerging risk, University of Adelaide researchers are now advocating for protective policies. Political microtargeting is a national security threat, they argue, even when not overtly successful. Disinformation undermines the values underpinning democracy and protection from it needs to be a key defence objective.

How can we safeguard Australia on the digital frontier? Join us to find out.

The presenters

is a Research Fellow at the University of Adelaide. Currently, Dr Dowling is chief investigator on the government-funded project Modelling Digital Ideological Extremism. Prior to this, she was co-investigator on Defence-sponsored projects, Countering Foreign Interference and Understanding Mass Influence.

Professor Debi Ashenden is Defence Science and Technology (DST) Group–University of Adelaide Joint Chair in Cyber Security. She was previously Head of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom’s Centre for Cyber Security and consulted extensively across the UK’s public and private sector, including for the Ministry of Defence, Home Office, QinetiQ, and Reuters.

is a Professor of Data Science at the University of Adelaide. A Tall Poppy of The Year Finalist in the 2018 SA Science Excellence Awards, Lewis studies how information moves over social networks using mathematical models.

Dr David Matthews is the Group Lead for Conflict Analysis and Influence Operations at the Defence Science and Technology (DST) Group and holds adjunct Associate Professorships at the University of Adelaide and Victoria University.


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Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The Braggs Building - The University of Adelaide, Victoria Drive, Adelaide, Australia

Tickets

AUD 0.00

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