This session will provide important information on:

• How Canadians’ levels of trust have changed with the onslaught of misinformation and disinformation
• How trust is measured
• The impact of eroding trust in the public and private sector
• The critical importance of maintaining trust in the current environment
• Lessons learned from the fight against covid and election “mis” and “dis” information
• Impact on the private sector
• Developing an effective strategy

Learn how experts map and analyze the complex fabric of social network structures to gain an understanding of how information and influence move through networks.

Find out how communities form online and how influence and information flow within large scale networks.

Topics covered will include:

• Disinformation detection
• Early warnings and analysis of online disinformation
• Determining if you are dealing with a grassroots boycott
• Is the behaviour coordinated?
• Is a foreign entity behind it?
• Is the information reaching customers?
• Identifying bots and coordinated campaigns
• Distinguishing fake vs real audience
• Identifying viral trends before they happen
• Curb the fallout from fake news

• The growth of alternative social media as a result of policy and enforcement efforts by major platforms like Meta/Twitter
• Understanding the landscape of threats that emanate from these platforms and the nexus between virtual and physical threats
• Recent campaigns that have started or gained traction on these platforms (trucker occupation of Ottawa, monkeypox, Boston Children’s Hospital)
• Case studies of campaigns that have recently targeted companies (e.g., Wayfair)

From the geopolitical motivations of Nation-States to cyber criminals pursuing profit and hacktivists and terrorists pursuing ideological violence, the variation in motivation and sophistication of threat actors means you are up against a wide and bewildering range of sophisticated techniques and tactics. This session will cover:

• Stages of a disinformation campaign
• New techniques and tactics aimed at the private sector, the public sector and government
• Online foreign influence campaigns
• How threat actors promote their message
• Impact of disinformation

• Lessons learned from analyzing two years of COVID networks
  • The evolution of actors, communities, and narratives
  • How fringe communities and ideas mainstreamed
  • Cultural bridging and the spread of QAnon during the pandemic
• Conspiracies that fueled offline movements, including the global convoys
• How foreign actors exploited rifts in scientific consensus
• Monkeypox, the lasting effects of COVID misinformation on public health communication
• Preparing for the next ‘infodemic’

Find out how expert Ed Hoover, Senior Manager, Crisis and  Consumer Care at Mars, deals with disinformation.

• What approaches are most effective?
• What approaches should be avoided and why?
• Learn how to respond to safeguard your reputation and maintain consumer confidence.

A general crisis management plan is not sufficient. If you don’t have a specific Disinformation Action Plan spelling out the steps you have to take before, during and after a disinformation attack you are more vulnerable than you should be. This session will allow  you to  draft a plan that will render you  as prepared as you can be to prevent, weather and respond to an attack.

• Addressing misinformation on a large scale
• Dealing with unfounded accusations
• What is the appropriate response?
• Need for brands to stay ahead of an issue, communicate with the parties, advisory groups, government and anyone interacting with the media
• Developing a disinformation plan