TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 2017

Fake news and the 2017 General Election

What will the shape and potential effect of fake news be in the 2017 New Zealand General Election campaign

This question will be posed at a panel discussion at the University of Auckland on Thursday 8 June featuring five panellists, including TVNZ’s political editor Corin Dann and Green party candidate Chlöe Swarbrick.

They will discuss the situation in the United States and United Kingdom and measures that must be taken in New Zealand to combat the threat of fake news and ensure we have a fair election.

“Fake news and ‘alternative facts’ invaded Northern Hemisphere politics during the US presidential election and Brexit, and New Zealand is not immune to this post-truth virus,” says Dr Gavin Ellis, lecturer in Media and Communication.

Dr Maria Armoudian, lecturer in Politics and International Relations, argues that “Fake news is the new economic model gone wild. Enabled by a free and open internet, the very system that was once thought to spread the ideas of democracy and human rights throughout the world has simultaneously given us a new creature with which to grapple.”

What will we, as societies, do in the face of these challenges?

Event details
Date: 08 June 2017, 4:30pm
Venue: Maths Lecture Theatre 3, Science Centre
Building 303, 38 Princes Street, Auckland
Cost: Free
Website: RSVP through Eventbrite

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