The Disinformation Project

After nearly four and a half years of pioneering research, analysis, and reporting on the growing landscape of disinformation in Aotearoa, The Disinformation Project is today announcing its closure as our small team moves on to new things.

Is disinformation impacting you? If you resonate with the challenges discussed by Kate Hannah, Nicole Skews-Poole, and Sarsha Sivanantham in this clip and need tips on tackling disinformation, watch the full video and download our guide here. https://lnkd.in/gi825FxT Massive thanks to The Disinformation Project for sharing their expertise! #learning #disinformation #allenandclarke

The nature of community engagement, brand reputation and social media management has changed drastically in the last few years. We can help your team understand this new normal, and design best practice systems to navigate a changing environment. Our Director of Communications Nicole Skews-Poole, runs in-house training for teams of all shapes and sizes. Get in touch today about professional development sessions.

Today we've launched a new high-level resource designed for communications and engagement professionals. This graphic outlines critical systems and tools that teams can use to build resilience to disinformation-based targeting. It’s free for anyone to download and share. Download here ➡ https://lnkd.in/gz7Jtp3Z

If your organisation is experiencing the impacts of disinformation on your staff, workstreams or brand reputation, get in touch. We've developed a body of best practice systems and processes that help you build resilience to disinformation while continuing to do great work in an increasingly polarised information environment. We deliver training and workshops that utilise your knowledge and subject matter expertise to co-design strategies that are fit for purpose for your organisation and your audiences. After every workshop, people tell us they now have a greater understanding of the issues at hand, feel more empowered in the importance of their work in this environment, and are clear on what to do if things get tough.

Great work from the Nelson City Council. We tautoko this approach which prioritises sharing good information with the people of Nelson, but also cares for their staff. The article outlines how they’ve responded to false information with important context, but most importantly, that they’ve made an operational decision to close comments for the wellbeing of their people and a better use of ratepayer resources. “The communications team had reviewed three months of Facebook data and found approximately 25% of comments on its pages were from 46 people, Murray said. This is not a representative cross-section of our city and the time council staff have to spend moderating comments for abuse and misinformation is not a good use of ratepayer money." https://lnkd.in/ghk9WZJf

Last week, I went to a workshop on disinformation. I was the only attendee who didn’t officially work in a communications team. Yet, I think this is important to understand for the future of DATA communication. Since 2020, the spread of disinformation and misinformation has greatly increased. Technology, while enabling us all to connect, has amplified our biases. Globally, we’re battling a crisis of disinformation. Here are some of my key takeaways from the workshop: ☀️ Disinformation is false information, created and spread with the intent to mislead. ☀️ Misinformation is false information, unintentionally spread. It’s often how disinformation is amplified. ☀️ Data storytelling can be used to myth-bust disinformation — but be careful. You don’t want to introduce your audience to new misinformation while trying to “bust” it. ☀️ More data won't entice someone out of a misinformation rabbit hole. Only their close connections and the people they trust can influence their ideas. ☀️ The online comments section is NOT a space for everyone to have their say. While it’s great to create room for discussion, you don’t want this to be somewhere that your audience is exposed to misinformation. Delete these comments. ☀️ Collectively, we need to speak out to correct misinformation. If we ignore it, out of fear of confrontation, others listening might think it’s accepted. ☀️ For a business, disinformation is a threat to the safety of its people. Being abused and receiving death threats has become the norm for those working in communications teams. This is not, and will never be, acceptable. So while disinformation might not be on your DATA communication radar, it’s important to consider to prevent the spread of false narratives. Nicole Skews-Poole | The Disinformation Project ------------------------- Want to learn about #datastorytelling? Find out more here: www.roguepenguin.co.nz

Are you seeing an increase in people believing false things? Is it affecting your work? What can you do about it? Our disinformation webinar, in collaboration with The Disinformation Project, is TOMORROW! Will you be joining us? Don't miss out – register now: https://lnkd.in/ggPjGi8p Date: Thursday 18 April 2024 12:00 – 1:30 pm (NZT) #FreeWebinar #Disinformation #FightingDisinformation

Tickets are closing soon for our Wellington workshop next Friday 19 April. Grab yours before they run out! Tickets here: https://lnkd.in/gniCNfvd Discounts are available for registered charities and members of PRINZ - Public Relations Institute of New Zealand or IABC Aotearoa New Zealand.

Tickets are now on sale for our Wellington workshop! This one-day session is aimed at communications and engagement professionals who are navigating disinformation, online targeting and polarisation. We'd love to see you there 📝