How Not to Support Disinformation?

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Watch a video recording of this webinar

The British Chamber of Commerce and Prague Security Studies Institute invite you to join the webinar

How Not to Support Disinformation?
Webinar on disinformation, online advertising and social responsibility

Disinformation presents one of the most serious challenges that democratic states and societies are dealing with nowadays. The COVID-19 pandemic reminded us that false massages undermine social trust and the discrediting of authorities might not only prove harmful but literally deadly. Therefore, this challenge should be met not only by state or civil society, but private companies as well. Not only might private companies suffer from the direct or indirect impact of disinformation, but also might unwittingly support its dissemination. Research shows that for certain notorious spreaders of disinformation, conspiracy theories and other harmful online content, the main motivation might be financial. And one of their main revenue streams comes from the online advertising of companies who do not properly regulate where they appear. Therefore, careless private companies might easily become the accomplices of disinformation spreaders.

How to recognize notorious disinformation sites? How to regulate online advertising in order not to support them? And how does this fit into the broader notion of the social responsibility of private companies?

These and other questions will be answered.
Attendance: Free of charge

Speakers:

• Jonáš Syrovátka, Program Manager, Prague Security Studies Institute
• Alena Zikmundová, Co-funder of Fair Advertising initiative
• Roman Číhalík, Co-funder and member of NELEŽ initiative
• Richard Stonavský, Director of Regulation and External Relations, Vodafone

BIO

Jonáš Syrovátka is a Program Manager at the think-tank Prague Security Studies Institute researching the topics of disinformation, information operations and strategic communications since 2016. Among other things, he investigated the influence of disinformation on four Czech elections between 2018 and 2019.

Alena Zikmundová is a co-founder of the initiative Fair Advertising which is focused on monitoring advertising campaigns on Czech websites spreading disinformation.

Roman Číhalík his career at Leo Burnett, at the time of the agency’s greatest prosperity on the Czech market and than spend 15 years in czech advertising agencies work for many clients such as Pilsner Urquell, O2, Kooperativa, ČSA, Vitana, MasterCard, Nestlé, Unilever, Mercedes-Benz, Samsung, Madeta, DHL, Opel, ORLEN Unipetrol or Tanec Praha Festival. He has won a number of prestigious local and foreign awards for his work and was a jury in ADC Awards, ADCE Festival, Young Lions Awards and the NY Advertising Festival. His works are published in the prestigious world magazines Luerzers Archive and Shots. In my free time, Mr. Číhalík is devoted to the NELEŽ association, which fights against disinformation.

Richard Stonavský has been responsible for Vodafone’s external relations and regulatory strategy since 2011. In this role, he represents the company’s interests in dealing with Czech and EU regulatory authorities and public institutions. He also represents Vodafone in professional and industry associations and supports various innovative corporate projects. Before joining Vodafone, Richard Stonavský was responsible for regulatory matters at T-Mobile and Aliatel and worked as an assistant at the Senate of the Czech Parliament. He graduated from the University of Economics in Prague and Sheffield Hallam University. He recharges his batteries by travelling and spending time in the mountains.