DEFCON 31 - HERE WE COME!

 

The Misinformation Village Call for Proposals Is Open!

The Misinformation Village is a collaborative of dis- and misinformation researchers, data analysts and computer linguists, cybersecurity and defence professionals, and all like-minded professionals across academia, civil society, government and industry.

We seek to establish open and broad-sector frameworks to define, expose, analyze and counter the security challenges of misinformation and disinformation campaigns on democratic regimes, free markets and open, democratic societies.

WHY OPEN FRAMEWORKS?

Open frameworks and open data infrastructure enhance and promote the production of scientific knowledge and industry expertise as they enable collaboration, information sharing, transparency, and reproducibility.

 

We aim to provide a common infrastructure for researchers to share data, tools, and knowledge, leading to more accurate research outcomes, better-informed policy decisions, and innovative solutions to complex problems. Diverse and inclusive research outcomes will ensure the benefits of scientific progress are shared widely. By supporting open frameworks, we strive to accelerate scientific discovery, drives innovation, and create a more equitable and sustainable information landscape for all.

 

WHAT ARE OUR GOALS?

Our mission is to inform, create and share new resources on the thorny and intersectional information, cognitive and defence challenge that is disinformation. We want to remain a physical space for broad-sector problem definition and collaboration. Specifically, we aim to:

• Engage technologists, OSINT investigators, civil society, media, defence and law enforcement communities through rich content, workshops, hackathons, and challenges.
• Engage with media professionals and storytellers on the subject of emerging tech, democracy challenges and information warfare.
• Address open-knowledge infrastructures deficits and draw attention to vulnerabilities within information creation and sharing platforms.
• We aim to be a movement in a physical (in-person) environment for broad-sector problem definition and collaboration.
• Provide a continuous and resilient space for trust, safety, and civic integrity professionals to engage with the industry.

Throughout our efforts, we also aim to provide and stir funding towards new tools, open knowledge movements and communities, existing and new communities of practice and collaboratives in the ecosystem.

 

WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR THIS IN 2023-2024?

We seek proposals exploring security risk assessments, thread models, responses, and analysis of the broader information landscape. Ecosystem actors mapping and evaluations of asset allocation and response effectiveness, particularly in the context of election integrity projects, are also critical in our bid to understand and counter the adverse effects of disinformation.

 

Given the complex nature of information dissemination in today's digital age, we are particularly interested in proposals that investigate tools for information verifiability, community guidelines, and the role of decentralized protocols and cryptography in building trust in digital media and new decentralized digital native communities (the fediverse). Contributions shedding light on the ad-tech industry and the economic ecosystem that fuels disinformation are also particularly encouraged, as are discussions around legal frameworks related to data privacy, security, and freedom of speech.  

 

WE WANT YOU! (OUR AUDIENCE)

We welcome a broad audience of technologists, builders, cognitive scientists, cybersecurity professionals, hackers, social scientists, computer linguists, data analysts, storytellers, and media professionals to join our movement.

 

Read more on our blog.