ICODR podcast: Sanjana Hattotuwa on technology, disinformation, and peace

Screenshot The ICODR Podcast, from the International Council for Online Dispute Resolution (icodr.org), covers the rapidly growing field of online dispute resolution. Hosted by Ian Macduff, the podcast interviews ODR experts from around the world to discuss the latest developments in the field, with an eye to ethics, culture, security, and impartiality. I joined the …

Sri Lanka’s 2022 Aragalaya studied through social media lenses

Delivered a lecture on 6 March 2023 over a Twitter Space, moderated by Priyanga Hettiarachi, on my study of Sri Lanka's Aragalaya over 2022. Download the complete slidedeck here or as a PDF here. You'll need to have the Powerpoint open to follow along with the lecture. Note that the Powerpoint version has video, and …

Invisible incendiaries

“We learn geology the morning after the earthquake” – Ralph Waldo Emerson In the early 80s, and the start of what would be a nearly 30-year brutal war, I was kept awake at night by two things. Planes and ambulances. With fresh military offensives by the Sri Lankan Army incurring heavy casualties, Airforce planes airlifted …

The nature and nurture of disinformation

First published on the ICT4Peace Foundation website. ### For us the land is matrix and destroyer,Resentful, darkly knownBy sunset omens, low words heard in branches.— Poem in the Matukituki Valley, James K. Baxter “In the woods we return to reason and faith.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson Aotearoa New Zealand’s inaugural hui on countering terrorism and violent extremism, He …

Addressing the Infodemic

First published on ICT4Peace Foundation website. Meaningful policymaking to fight the swelling seed, spread and supremacy of misinformation benefits from data and evidence alive to socio-political realities. A new report from Aotearoa New Zealand’s Classification Office does precisely this. ‘The Edge of the Infodemic’ presents a snapshot of the country’s media and information ecologies in …

Roles of media in peacebuilding & conflict generation

Was invited by Associate Professor SungYong Lee at NCPACS to deliver a guest lecture to his 2021 MA class on media's role in peacebuilding violent conflict generation. Speaking first around the nature of my doctoral research over three years at the Centre, I covered the specific geographic, socio-political focus of my research and at a …

Making Facebook’s New Human Rights Policy Real

This article was originally published on the website of Institute for Human Rights and Business. ### The world’s biggest social media platform, Facebook, recently unveiled its human rights policy. It is a step in the right direction. But declaring a policy is one thing; implementing it is quite another. In a recent podcast with the Institute for Human Rights …

Democracy in the age of social media: Podcast of radio interview by OAR FM Dunedin

Cross posted from ICT4Peace Foundation site. ### Special Advisor at the ICT4Peace Foundation, Sanjana Hattotuwa, in conversation with Marvin Hubbard from OAR FM Dunedin, looking at the issues around social media, hate, peace and democracy in Aotearoa/New Zealand and beyond. Broadcast live on OAR 105.4FM Dunedin on 23 March 2021. Original podcast at Community or …

The Christchurch massacre and social media: Lessons learnt and unlearnt

Image courtesy Guardian As part of the New Ec(h)o systems: Democracy in the age of social media, Paul Ash, the New Zealand Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Cyber and Digital and Cyber Coordinator at Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet joined Special Advisor Sanjana Hattotuwa in a session titled 'The Christchurch massacre and social …

Video of session: Information disorder & conflict – The humanitarian dimension

What are "information disorders"? What impact do they have on conflict and other situations of violence? And how can humanitarians better understand them and mitigate their negative effects? Special Advisor of the ICT4Peace Foundation, Sanjana Hattotuwa, took part in a panel discussion on the impact of misinformation, disinformation and hate speech in the humanitarian sector. …