This talk provides an overview of how social and technical aspects facilitate the spread of mis- and disinformation on social media. It also reviews some of the key political and economic motivations behind disinformation campaigns. Additionally, it discusses what are some of the key impacts of mis- and disinformation for individuals and society. Drawing from examples of science-related and climate disinformation, this talk presents specific cases that illustrate the causes and consequences of the spread of disinformation on social media.

Felipe Soares Senior Lecturer in Communications and Media Social Analytics at the London College of Communication (UAL)

When communicating climate visually, understanding how humans perceive information can be very valuable. What units do people naturally grasp, how do they judge quantity, and when do context effects distort perception? Drawing on vision science, Simon Rushton tries to provide answers to these questions, to help effectively convey quantities and relationships, and also understand when the eye is being misled. He explains the importance of choosing intuitive rather than abstract units, potential problems in conveying quantity, and strategies to minimize them. Furthermore, Rushton touches on recent research on whether visual summary statistics are useful and explain cases where visual representations deliberately exploit the working of the visual system to produce misperceptions.

Vision scientist and professor at the School of Psychology, Cardiff University