Information Manipulation in Digital Spaces: Doing Public Interest Research Amidst Political Pressure with Renée DiResta

Renée DiResta studies adversarial abuse online—ways that people attempt to manipulate, harass, or target others within the constantly evolving landscape of digital platforms. She will discuss her empirical research on the ways propagandists deliberately undermine belief in the legitimacy of institutions that make society work and share how she translates her work into policy suggestions to mitigate online information manipulation. Drawing on her personal experience coming under fire for her public interest research, she will share advice on how to do scientific research in a highly politicized environment.

Early arrival attendees will receive a copy of DiResta’s latest book, Invisible Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies into Reality, while supplies last.

Reception to follow in Rackham Assembly Hall, from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m.

Speaker Bio: Renée DiResta studies adversarial abuse online, ranging from state actors running influence operations, to spammers and scammers, to issues related to child safety. She is the author of Invisible Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies Into Reality. From 2019 to 2023 she was the technical research manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory, a cross-disciplinary program of research, teaching, and policy engagement for the study of abuse in current information technologies. Renée has advised Congress, the State Department, and other academic, civic, and business organizations on issues related to technology and policy, including information operations, generative artificial intelligence, election security, researcher transparency, and more. At the behest of the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, she led outside teams investigating both the Russia-linked Internet Research Agency’s multi-year effort to manipulate American society and elections, and the Russian military intelligence influence campaign deployed alongside its hack-and-leak operations in the 2016 election.

Renee is a contributor at the Atlantic. Her bylined writing has also appeared in Wired, Foreign Affairs, the Columbia Journalism Review, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Yale Review, the Guardian, POLITICO, Slate, and Noema, as well as many academic journals. She has been a Presidential Leadership Scholar (a program run by the Presidents Bush, Clinton, and LBJ Foundations); an Emerson Fellow, a Truman National Security Project fellow, Mozilla Fellow in Media, Misinformation, and Trust, a Harvard Berkman-Klein affiliate, and a Council on Foreign Relations term member.

Lunch and Learn—Application

Prior to her public talk in Rackham Amphitheatre, Renée DiResta will facilitate a lunch and learn to discuss ethical opportunities, challenges, and dilemmas with a select group of students and postdoctoral fellows. Attendees will receive a copy of DiResta’s latest book, Invisible Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies into Reality. Space is limited and students are asked to apply to participate in the lunch and learn by filling out the Google form application.

The deadline to apply is October 11, and we cannot guarantee that all who apply will be accepted. Those who are selected will be notified via email by Rackham and will be required to RSVP for the event.

Registration is required at https://myumi.ch/3QEbE.

We want to ensure full and equitable participation in our events. If an accommodation would promote your full participation in this event, please follow the registration link to indicate your accommodation requirements. Please let us know as soon as possible in order to have adequate time, preferably one week, to arrange for your requested accommodations or an effective alternative.