6

TRUTH, TRUST, AND HOPE

SOLUTION SESSIONS TURNING DISCUSSIONS INTO ACTIONS

An integral aspect of the 2023 Nobel Prize Summit was its focus on solutions. They were suggested in both the Global Conversation and the Forum of Experts sessions. In addition, on May 26 (the Solution Sessions), digital partners convened nine sessions with an important goal of turning discussions into actions. Each of these sessions focused on topics relating to the summit and were held in hybrid and/or in-person formats (see Box 6-1).

FIGHTING DISINFORMATION

As part of this year’s Nobel Prize Summit, the Embassy of Sweden in Washington, DC, and the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) co-hosted a discussion on disinformation and how to identify, understand, and counteract adverse and malign information. In a keynote address, H. E. Karin Olofsdotter (Ambassador of Sweden to the United States) pointed out the strong commitment from the Swedish government to combat disinformation while ensuring a democratic, open society with strong fundamental rights for individuals. In a panel discussion led by Graham Brookie (DFRLab), Nobel Prize laureate Martin Chalfie (Columbia University), Magnus Hjort (Swedish Psychological Defence Agency), and Catrin Huss (Swedish Psychological Defence Agency) discussed ways to deal with an “infodemic.” They agreed on key priorities such as the importance of education and critical thinking to build understanding and rebuild

trust, the need to continue to support independent media, and the importance of technical solutions to combating misinformation.

During the interactive workshop, the audience was invited to discuss important values to safeguard and identify weaknesses and malicious narratives to determine appropriate solutions to counteract influence campaigns. It was concluded that it is necessary to improve understanding of external intentions and motivations, as well as the foundation of people’s own values to be better equipped to counteract disinformation.

REGULATE? LEGISLATE? ACTIVATE!

To begin this session hosted by PeaceTech Lab and the International Panel on the Information Environment, moderator Michael Mort (PBx Digital Lab, J. P. Morgan Private Bank) posed the question: Given their use of technology, how is “Generation PeaceTech” (Millennials and Generation Z) uniquely equipped to counter misinformation and build a safer, more truthful world online? Mort set up the conversation by noting the discourse around climate change, COVID-19, and the January 6 uprisings in the United States all exemplify existential dangers of mis- and disinformation. To further this point, panelist Emma Lembke (LOG OFF) described the dangers social media can pose to the development of young people. She argued that media literacy is key to teaching young people to find trustworthy voices and stop misinformation’s spread. Bing Chen (Gold House) noted how COVID-19 misinformation perpetuates dangerous stereotypes of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. Chen proposed practical solutions to combat the current misinformation crisis, including a call for more regulations or a regulatory body to ascertain trustworthy news.

The panel also tackled the growing challenges of artificial intelligence (AI). To dispel myths about AI, Daanish Alavi (United Nations) stressed the importance of fully understanding how AI operates and affects society. Without this, he said, solutions cannot be found to counter misinformation. Relatedly, despite the challenges posed by the current information environment, Tamara Nelson (Barometer) noted that AI can be a force for good. Nelson argued that as long as society uses AI appropriately, “we can achieve [the] scale, rigor, and consistency that’s needed to analyze the information ecosystem and make it easier and more responsible for us to engage with it.”

UNTOLD STORIES: YOUTH INITIATIVES TO PROMOTE HEALTHY INFORMATION ECOSYSTEMS IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH

The United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Washington, DC representation office; Oslo Governance Centre; and Human Development Report Office (HDRO) co-hosted an official side event to the 2023 Nobel Prize Summit, moderated by Pedro Conceição (HDRO, UNDP). This roundtable discussion highlighted nine youth activists from across the Global South, including Alison Ramirez (OjoPúblico, Peru), Dania Al Nasser (Wain Al Ghalt, Jordan), Dickson Matulula (Katoba Youth Climate Champions, Zambia), Gisselle Wolozny (El Milenio, Honduras), Luísa Franco Machado (Digital Rights Activist, Brazil), Marija Krstevska Taseva (National Youth Council of Macedonia, North Macedonia), Santosh Sigdel (Digital Rights Nepal, Nepal), Wani Geoffrey (AlertMe, South Sudan), and Zawad Alam (Project WE, Bangladesh). The young leaders brought up issues such as disinformation targeting vulnerable groups, enhancing social divides and polarization, harming democratic processes, and delegitimizing mediation and peace building. They also raised the challenges of unequal digital access, access to information, and digital literacy. Information getting corrupted in translation between languages was pointed out as a significant issue.¹

Suggested solutions included education and promoting digital literacy, critical thinking, and behavioral change. The group agreed on the need for fact checking in more languages. They also focused on investing in fact-checking infrastructure, leveraging AI and digital content for positive outcomes, and promoting data transparency. Working with local communities and creating cross-border collaboration were both highlighted as critical. Finally, speakers stressed the importance of having the views of youth meaningfully represented in decision-making. These insights provide valuable input to HDRO’s research and to the growing discussion about information pollution and the challenges it presents to contacts outside of the United States and Europe.

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¹ For additional information, see https://www.undp.org/policy-centre/oslo/events/undps-participation-nobel-prize-summit-2023.

TRUST IN SCIENCE: THE IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING AN EVIDENCE-BASED WORLDVIEW

The Smithsonian Science Education Center and the Nobel Foundation addressed and discussed the importance of education to help society meet the increasing demands of navigating complex information in today’s environment. This session began with welcoming remarks from both the Nobel Foundation and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Andreas Schleicher (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD]) shared recent results from the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment, or PISA.²Jonathan Osborne (Stanford University) discussed the role of science education in addressing misinformation. Nobel Prize laureate Saul Perlmutter (University of California, Berkeley) and Laura Sprechmann (Nobel Prize Outreach) shared perspectives on the importance of critical thinking in early education. Carol O’Donnell, Katherine Blanchard, and Heidi Gibson (Smithsonian Science Education Center) highlighted videos of students’ real-world actions from the Smithsonian Science for Global Goals project designed to help youth, ages 8–18, discover, understand, and act on the world’s most pressing socio-scientific issues of our time. The session ended with panelists Anita Krishnamurthi (Collective for Youth Empowerment in STEM and Society, Afterschool Alliance) and Ann Friedman (Planet Word), joined by earlier speakers, examining why education systems must adapt to meet the demands of a shared transformative future, and how young people are in integral part of this process. Students who were part of the Smithsonian project, and their instructor, Alexa Mogck, joined the session live.

DECEPTIVE DESIGN WORKSHOP

The OECD, Federal Trade Commission, European Consumer Organisation, and European Commission recently published reports on the need for regulators to be given effective tools to crack down on illegal uses of deceptive design online. This session explored how lawmakers and regulators on both sides of the Atlantic are tackling the issue of deceptive design and explore how lessons learned on both shores can help provide global regulatory solutions. Moderated by Finn Lützow-Holm Myrstad (Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue), the session highlighted the academic research of Ann Kristin Glenster (University of Cambridge), including an overview of the challenges with deceptive designs. Harry Brignull (Smart Pension and deceptive.design) discussed the role of business incentives

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² For more information on PISA, see https://www.oecd.org/pisa.

in addressing deceptive designs, and M. R. (Mark) Leiser (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) provided a summary of the European Union’s legislative efforts to address deceptive designs. Kat Zhou (<Design Ethically>) discussed the importance of technical design in addressing deceptive designs, while John Davisson (Electronic Privacy Information Center [EPIC]) shared some of EPIC’s experiences advocating for restrictions on deceptive design in the United States. A panel discussion was followed by a second part of the workshop, which was an invitation-only event to discuss key takeaways. A full workshop summary report is available at the University of Cambridge website.3

MIS- AND DISINFORMATION IN LATIN AMERICA: THE PUBLIC, THE MEDIA, THE SCIENCE

The Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research hosted a session relating to institutionalized efforts to address mis- and disinformation in Latin America. Moderated by Jerónimo Giorgi (Latinoamérica 21), Marco Schneider (Brazilian Institute of Information in Science and Technology) and Natalia Pasternak (Instituto Questão de Ciência) discussed several key challenges in the region. They distinguished between disinformation and misinformation: disinformation is a deliberate act of lying to deceive, whereas misinformation is an unintentional act. Both employ subtle or gross lies, half-truths, anachronisms, decontextualizations, exaggerations, concealment, and information overload. Today’s era is marked by an unprecedented proliferation of mis- and disinformation, resulting in new terms that have recently been coined and popularized. For example, post-truth refers to situations where beliefs weigh more than evidence and rational arguments. Fake news refers to false information with a journalistic appearance. Infodemic refers to disinformation on a pandemic scale. Participants discussed ways to counter mis- and disinformation, such as process-oriented science education that fosters critical thinking rather than rote memorization. In a world plagued by disinformation, improving science literacy can lead to better decision-making by citizens and governments of the region.

EMPOWERING SCIENCE DIPLOMACY: EMERGING LEADERSHIP ACROSS THE AMERICAS

The active participation of future leaders, especially from the Global South, is essential in just and equitable evidence-informed decision-making to address

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³ See https://www.mctd.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Deceptive-Design-Workshop-Report-with-links.pdf.

the complex challenges of global change. The session was moderated by Kim Portmess (Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research [IAI]). Marcella Ohira (IAI) discussed how fellows of the IAI Science, Technology, Policy (STeP) Fellowship Program are redefining leadership in response to international and national institutions raising the need for more proactive approaches to enhance the advisory role of science in governance and diplomacy. Effective science advisement can improve the synthesis, uptake, and use of credible information, thereby countering mis- and disinformation. This solution session brought together science diplomacy experts and IAI STeP fellows from across the Americas, including Larisse Faroni-Perez and Fany Ramos Quispe to share their recent experiences mobilizing knowledge in diverse scientific fields, socioeconomic sectors, and tiers of government toward the common goal of increasing the provision of science advice and science diplomacy for sustainability in the Americas. This session shared the context in which this new model operates as an inclusive, transdisciplinary, transboundary, and multisectoral learning experience for early-career researchers to cultivate practical power skills and create an international science-policy community of practice. Carlos Matsumoto (Brazil Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation) provided his perspective at the national level on the importance of empowering science diplomacy in the context of emerging leadership across the region.

WIKIPEDIA EDIT-A-THON

Wikimedia DC and Hacks/Hackers, the team behind Analysis and Response Toolkit for Trust (ARTT), hosted a joint session that provided attendees with the skills needed to combat mis- and disinformation online and within Wikipedia. Ariel Cetrone (Wikimedia District of Columbia) moderated the session. Attendees learned how to edit Wikipedia and practiced their skills by editing existing articles and creating new ones. As one of the most visited websites in the world, Wikipedia has become the first stop for many who are seeking information. Empowering new Wikipedia editors ultimately creates new barriers to the actions of those seeking to further false claims. The ARTT team demonstrated how their new tool helps its users engage in difficult conversations that often arise when mis- or disinformation is shared on social media or through other means. The ARTT tool incorporates Wikipedia’s resources into some of its guidance methods, furthering the point that the accuracy of Wikipedia is crucial as its content is often referenced across other projects.

SCIENTIFIC MEDIA LITERACY IN K–12 EDUCATION

Media Literacy Now hosted a session focused on scientific media literacy in K–12 education. “What part of your life does not include some type of media, after all?” asked moderator Alicia Haywood (iSpeakMedia Foundation) to start the conversation. The consensus for the panels and audience discussions was that media literacy education is multifaceted; it is a continual skill acquired and practiced over time. Because media messages are the “wallpaper of life today,” media literacy must be embedded across the school day. The skills of decoding, assessing, and creating are essential to thrive and succeed in the 21st century. Science teacher Katie Coppens (Falmouth Middle School) noted that the Next Generation Science Standards encompass a nationally recognized set of practices that apply across all grade levels. Standard 8 calls for “obtaining, evaluating and communicating information” that reinforces that students need critical thinking about the sources they are using and the information they are accessing.⁴

As solutions and action steps, teacher training is essential, participants stated. Librarians can be the point people in the school to integrate media literacy. Participants also discussed that community leaders, cross-disciplinary groups, and parents can begin conversations about including media literacy in K–12 schools, and ask state legislators to fund resources and professional development. Media Literacy Now is developing a collaborative initiative in scientific media literacy.⁵

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⁴ For more information on the Next Generation Science Standards, see https://www.nextgenscience.org.

⁵ For more information on Media Literacy Now, see https://medialiteracynow.org.