The Future of Disinformation
With over 600 registrations, The Future of Disinformation brought together 10 leading experts from media, academia and government to examine how disinformation exploits psychological, social and technological vulnerabilities. Hosted by Jon Faine, the event featured Professor Jeannie Marie Paterson (The University of Melbourne) on legal frameworks; Lisa Watts (The Conversation) on journalism in the AI era; Eliot Higgins (Bellingcat) on open-source investigation; Preslav Nakov (MBZUAI) on AI fact-checking tools; Lydia Khalil (Lowy Institute) on civic complacency, and more.
Together, the speakers addressed critical questions shaping today’s information crisis: Who decides what’s true? When should content be moderated? How do we prepare people of all ages to navigate an increasingly complex digital landscape? Panelists agreed that combating disinformation requires more than fact-checking — it calls for coordinated action across education, regulation, and technology.
Behind the Scenes
Each Future of event is months in the making. Melbourne Connect collaborates with partners across academia, industry, and government to curate a diverse range of perspectives. A pre-event workshop helps define the key issues and themes, shape the program and identify the most relevant speakers.
Watch, Listen, Read
All Future of events are livestreamed, with video recordings available on Melbourne Connect’s YouTube channel. To broaden access, Melbourne Connect also uses AI tools to generate both a podcast and summary document — each carefully reviewed to ensure accuracy and clarity.
Explore More
Explore the key themes and takeaways from The Future of Disinformation with additional resources below.
Disclaimer
The event summary and podcast were AI-generated and reviewed by the Melbourne Connect team. While every effort has been made to reflect the event faithfully, some nuance may be lost in summarisation.
