EU Report on Fake News and Online Disinformation: Policy, Law, and Media Responses

Panelists:
Professor Rasmus, Nielsen (University of Oxford; Director of Research, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
Dr Dimitris Xenos, Lecturer in Law, University of Suffolk
Matthew Rogerson, Head of Public Policy at Guardian Media Group
Martin Rosenbaum, Executive Producer, BBC Political Programmes

Chair:
Dr Nora Ni Loideain, Director and Lecturer in Law, Information Law & Policy Centre, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London

In March 2018, th Independent High Level Expert Group on Fake News and Online Disinformation, commissioned by the European Commission, issued a report entitled ‘A Multidimensional Approach to Disinformation’. The report is a response to the growing controversy of fake news and online disinformation and, particularly, the threats these complex and multifaceted phenomena pose to democracy.

The report sets forward a series of short- and long- term responses and actions for both media practitioners and policymakers to consider in formulating frameworks to effectively addressing these issues. The recommendations are founded on the rights of freedom of expression, freedom of the media, access to information and privacy, and the principles of transparency, diversity and credibility of information, inclusivity of stakeholders and sustainable solutions.

In response to this important and timely report, and the ongoing work of the EU High Level Expert Group, the Information Law and Policy Centre (ILPC) at the Institute for Advanced Legal Studies is hosting a seminar to discuss the media, law and policy implications of the report.

The seminar will take the form of an expert panel consisting of academics, media practitioners and policymakers. The discussion will provide a fruitful platform for assessing the legal, social, and policy implications of the findings of the report, as well as for considering how the recommendations of the report can be taken forward.

Panelists:

Professor Rasmus Kleis Nielsen is Director of Research at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism and serves as Editor in Chief of theInternational Journal of Press/Politics. Professor Nielsen is also a member of the High Level Expert Group on Fake News and Online Disinformation.

His work focuses on changes in the news media, political communication, and the role of digital technologies in both. He has done extensive research on American politics, journalism, and various forms of activism, and a significant amount of comparative work in Western Europe and beyond.

Recent books include The Changing Business of Journalism and its Implications for Democracy (2010, edited with David Levy), Ground Wars: Personalized Communication in Political Campaigns (2012), and Political Journalism in Transition: Western Europe in a Comparative Perspective(2014, edited with Raymond Kuhn).

In 2014, he won the Doris Graber Award for best book on political communication published in the last ten years, awarded by the American Political Science Association, for his Ground Wars. He is also recipient of the 2014 Tietgen Prize for his work on current changes in the news media.

He holds a BA and a MSc in Political Science from the University of Copenhagen, a MA (with distinction) in Political Theory from the University of Essex, and a PhD (with distinction) in Communications from Columbia University.

Dr. Dimitris Xenos is a lecturer within the School of Law and Social Science of the University of Suffolk. He also acts as a legal consultant for various law offices and private and public bodies. He is a Fellow at the European Public Law Organisation in Athens, book review editor for the European Review of Public Law and member of the Scientific Committee of Gazzetta Amministrativa della Repubblica Italiana.

His legal expertise and research combines both public and private law areas of domestic, European and international relevance. He has frequently made contributions to open consultations of public institutions including his written evidence to the European Ombudsman’s inquiry on the EU Council’s preparatory bodies. His recent study in the area of media law is entitled ‘The Guardian’s Publications of Snowden Files: Assessing the Standards of Freedom of Speech in the Context of State Secrets and Mass Surveillance’.

Matthew Rogerson is the Head of Public Policy at Guardian Media Group (GMG). Matthew joined GMG in 2013 following 5 years at Virgin Media, where he worked on a range of issues, including responses to the Digital Britain report, the Government’s Communications Review, and broadband policy. Matthew’s work at GMG covers areas such as press freedom, media plurality, digital advertising and brand safety, and the changing nature of digital news. Before working in the private sector, Matthew worked as a parliamentary researcher.

Martin Rosenbaum is an Executive Producer at BBC News (2004 – present), specialising in freedom of information and data journalism, breaking news, giving interviews, blogging, and advising and training other BBC journalists. Martin is the Editor/executive producer of The Week in Westminster, FutureProofing, Reflections, Four Thought, Political Thinking, Decision Time, Campaign Sidebar, David Baddiel Tries to Understand, The Corbyn Story, David Cameron’s Big Idea, Britain at Sea, From Savage to Self, The Royal Activist, and numerous other series and documentaries. He is concurrently a Council Member of the Economic and Social Research Council. In addition, Martin is a member of the Advisory Board of the Information Law and Policy Centre, Institute for Advanced Legal Studies and a Senior Practitioner Fellow within the Department of Politics at Birbeck, University of London.

This seminar is free but advance booking is required. All welcome.