Our societies are becoming more polarised as a result of weaponised hate and disinformation. COVID-19 has been described as both a health crisis and a disinformation crisis. There are early signs that a range of bad actors are exploiting the fear of this pandemic to further their agendas, dividing communities and mobilising against specific constituencies on racial, religious or ethnic lines, with potentially devastating effects both on public health and on community cohesion. To address these trends, we require real-time data analysis capabilities and broad coalitions of partners to build collective strength in order to fully understand and disrupt these for strategic responses.

In this session as part of the Virtual Skoll World Forum 2020, Founding CEO, Sasha Havlicek and Resident Senior Fellow, Zahed Amanullah from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, in collaboration with the Skoll Centre, explore the intersection between the current COVID-19 pandemic and the polarisation of global societies through hate and disinformation amplified by social media algorithms and new technological trends. We share new methodologies to track, analyse and respond to these malicious efforts. Working with tech and front line partners we can better monitor and expose the disinformation that threatens public safety, whether intended to inflame community tensions on the basis of race, religion, blame for COVID-19, or undermine the attempts by governments and health professionals to control it.