GSI Seminar Series - The Wikimedia Model: how we can come together to challenge climate change disinformation and support knowledge integrity

Abstract: 

Disinformation is everywhere. It’s in the headlines, it’s in risk management memos and lunchtime learning sessions, it’s the theme for major conferences, and it’s in some people’s job titles. But the burgeoning field of Disinformation Studies reveals some extraordinary deficits in how the term is understood, and how it is used. The field struggles to explain why opinions change; it often lacks data on the prevalence and reach of its subject; and common definitions are hard to come by. As Joseph Bernstein (2023) puts it: “the sense prevails that no two people who research disinformation are quite talking about the same thing”. I would like to problematise the  discipline by looking at some examples from Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia that anyone can edit. I draw on some practical examples from the theme of climate change disinformation across Wikipedia to ask: how can we come together to challenge climate change disinformation, and advance the goals of knowledge integrity?

Bio:

Nathan Forrester is a Senior Disinformation Specialist at the Wikimedia Foundation, the organisation which supports Wikipedia and other free knowledge projects. His background is in Russian and Disinformation Studies, and he is most recently a co-author of "Characterising Knowledge Manipulation in a Russian Wikipedia Fork" (https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.10663#).

Please register attendance in person by emailing infogsi@exeter.ac.uk. Tea and coffee will be available afterwards.

Get in touch if you'd like to join online and are not on our mailing list. The Zoom link will be distributed nearer the time.