In this episode we are joined by Rita Jonušaitė who works at EU DisinfoLab as Advocacy Coordinator. Previously Rita worked at the European Youth Forum as Policy and Advocacy Manager and prior to that at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania. At the moment Rita is also pursuing a degree in IP & ICT Law at KU Leuven university. Rita has been primarily following regulatory discussions around disinformation, including negotiations on the Digital Services Act and updated Code of Practice on Disinformation. Rita has also been looking at relevant discussions around media policy (European Media Freedom Act).

In this episode we are joined by Martin Kováč, an Old Catholic priest, theologian, and the project coordinator and programme manager of the cultural-community centre Staré Lýceum in Bratislava. He is a leader of two inclusive Christian communities in Bratislava and Trnava, has dedicated his life to human and minority rights, and is an advocate for the acceptance and rights of LGBTQI+ people. Martin is a pioneer of interfaith dialogue in Slovakia and is dedicated to the rights of religious minorities, working to change discriminatory laws.

In this episode we are joined by Benjamin Fisher, Program Director at the Alfred Landecker Foundation. The Alfred Landecker Foundation is an incubator for democracy in the digital age. The foundation uses technological advancements and comprehensive expertise for an open society, a contemporary remembrance of the Holocaust and other Nazi crimes and the fight against antisemitism, racism and group hatred.

Our 16th episode is a very special one, focussing on online radicalisation and deradicalisation. This episode was recorded at the 6TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE “CIVIC ACTORS IN CONFLICT" hosted by PDCS on November 9th in Bratislava, Slovakia. 

Our friend Marie Heřmanová hosted a very interesting panel discussion, looking into the world of online radicalisation and de-radicalisation, discussing trends, threats and solutions to explore the current developments of online mobilisation and radicalisation, also related to the war in Ukraine.

In this episode we are joined by Moussa Bourekba. He is a Research Fellow at the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB) and adjunct professor at Blanquerna Faculty of Communication and International Relations and at the University of Barcelona, where he teaches international relations in the MENA region, terrorism and violent radicalisation.

Working in the field of hate speech, disinformation and radicalisation we get confronted with the darkest parts of the world wide web. So, it's important to be reminded about the happy, wholesome and inspiring parts from time to time. That’s why we invited Toon Vos to join us today, to talk about the positive sides of the internet.

Toon Vos is both a writer and a designer, and has recently produced a wonderful special series titled the Wholesome Wide Web. The Wholesome Wide Web is a voyage to the online strongholds where people come together to meet, talk, share, and play. Places where the promise of the internet is alive and kicking.

In this episode, we speaking to Julia Mozer, EU Public Policy Manager at Twitter and Carlos Hernández-Echevarría Head of Public Policy & Institutional Development, Maldita Spain, about moderation strategies on Twitter, and how to utilise online communities to counter disinformation.

This episode was recorded as a live webinar on the 20th of October.

In this episode we are zooming in on the Council of Europe’s actions to counter hate speech in Europe. We are joined by Menno Ettema, who is the Programme Manager at the No Hate Speech and Anti-Discrimination Cooperation unit, Anti-Discrimination Department of the Council of Europe. In his function he brings together the organisations work on combatting hate speech and discrimination through standards setting, monitoring and capacity building programmes in cooperation with member States and European partners.

In this episode special episode we are zooming in on the killing of two men outside of a gay bar in Bratislava on the 12th of October in a suspected hate crime. We are joined by Lukáš Zorád, who works for Partners for Democratic Change Slovakia.

In this episode we bring together two organisations doing wonderful work in the field of hate speech and diversity. We will be zooming in on LGBTQ+ related hate, and dive into an upcoming conference hosted by INACH on this topic.

How can we disrupt terrorist organisations online? Are social media platforms doing enough? How can CSOs, NGOs and analysts help? In this episode we are joined by Anne Craanen from Tech Against Terrorism to zoom in on disrupting online terrorism.

The Great Replacement Theory is a white nationalist far-right conspiracy theory that has been inspiring violent attacks such as the Christchurch attack and the Buffalo shooting. In this episode we are joined by Jakob Guhl from Institute for Strategic Dialogue to zoom in on the Great Replacement Theory.

Will the new EU Digital Services Act (DSA) have an impact on online hate and disinformation? What are the effects of this new legislation on social media users? What can we expect from the big platforms?

In this episode we are joined by Līva and Josephine from HateAid to discuss the Digital Services Act.

This episode focuses on Open-source Intelligence & Fringe Social Media Platforms. We’ll meet with Amra Dorjbayar, data journalist at the VRT, and Olivier Cauberghs, radicalisation and terrorism expert at Textgain.

This podcast delves into the current trends in the world of online influencers in and around the War on Ukraine. Who is getting it right and who is categorically not. Do governments have the right or a duty to steer their content production given the huge columns of disinformation and propaganda being generated by Kremlin bot farms and content production apparatus. Take a listen now!

This podcast delves into the current trends we are seeing online in France, identifying particular hateful narratives. We discuss the impact of the war in Ukraine and foreign influence, especially that of Russia. We hear how the volunteers of I Am Here International are debunking disinformation, and finally, we end on a positive note, where Xavier explains how he would try to encourage the silent majority to speak out. Take a listen now.

This second episode is focussed on the war in Ukraine. We’ll meet with Rafal Pankowski, the co-founder of the Never Again Association, to discuss the impact the war is having on Poland, and Emily Duffy, campaigner and trainer, to talk about reframing narratives surrounding the war in Ukraine.

We spoke with Elsa Court, whose research focuses on the political and sociological transformation of post-2014 Ukraine, to shed some light on the history between Ukraine and Russia, and the divisions between the two countries.

In the first episode we met with Miro Dittrich, the co-founder of the organisation CeMAS, to chat about QAnon in Germany, and Guy De Pauw, CEO of Textgain, on ethical AI as a solution to online hate.