Misinformation and the Alt-Right Pipeline

Join us for a discussion of how the rise of misinformation has paved the way for disinformation, especially through media outlets and politicians who fuel alt-right ideologies within the political landscape. A growing number of online figures promoting "traditional" and "disciplined" ideals are disseminating increasingly extremist and violent rhetoric. While this content may seem confined to niche areas of the internet, its implications extend into the real world and influence political dynamics. This hostile division is mainly appearing in democracies and is threatening democratic values.

As our engagement with social media intensifies, it's crucial to understand both the mechanisms that draw individuals into this dangerous rhetoric and how we can disrupt the spiral down the alt-right pipeline. This discussion aims to address these pressing questions with experts in the field, exploring the causes and consequences of these ideologies. It will explore strategies to counter the alt-right’s threat to democracy and highlight the need to combat misinformation and its evolution into disinformation.

Panellists

Mark Davis

Mark Davis’ current research focuses on online ‘anti-publics’ and extreme online discourse, Australian digital literary cultures and taste making, changing media ecologies and the cultural politics of gatekeeping and disintermediation, Australian public culture, and media representations of young people. 

Michelle Elias

Michelle is a Walkley-award winning digital reporter and producer with the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) Australia. Michelle produced investigative pieces around incels; how incels are created and the alt-right pipeline they go down before they are then fully involved in the ideology.

Jennifer Luu 

Is a Walkley-award-winning journalist from SBS The Feed. She has reported on various aspects of the manosphere and far-right beliefs including a deep-dive into incel culture in Australia which garnered millions of views online.

FAQs

How do I join the event?

The event will be held online via Zoom. Registered attendees will be sent a link to join prior to the event via email.