WEAPONS OF MASS DISTRACTION
We used to know what a revolution looked like. Protest in the streets, a coup, a clear moment of rupture. Now, as the lines between democracy and autocracy continue to blur, the most powerful weapon against freedom fits in your pocket. By weaponising our fear and outrage, one scroll at a time, those doing it aren’t hiding. They’re scaling.
Nobel Peace Prize-winning journalist Maria Ressa has spent her career on the frontlines of disinformation warfare – not fought with bullets but with lies, confusion and fear. Ressa forces us to confront how journalism is being weaponised to rewrite our reality and redirect our vote. She argues that once our beliefs are controlled, democracy itself becomes the casualty.
This session is made possible with the support of The Squiz.
Maria Ressa [PHI]
Maria Ressa is the co-founder and CEO of Rappler, the Philippines’ leading digital news site, and a 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate recognised for her efforts to safeguard freedom of expression. She serves as Co-Chair of the UN’s Independent International Scientific Panel on AI and Vice-Chair of the UN Internet Governance Forum. A Professor of Practice at Columbia University’s SIPA, she leads the Technology & Democracy Initiative. Her most recent book, How to Stand Up to a Dictator, has been translated into more than 20 languages.
Hamish Macdonald
Hamish Macdonald is an award-winning journalist who has covered wars, disasters, and major world events. He hosts Mornings on ABC Sydney and co-hosts Global Roaming on Radio National – named Best News Podcast by Radio Today. His awards include a Walkley for current affairs journalism, the EU-Qantas Journalism Prize, and the Elizabeth O’Neill Journalism Award. He has reported from Afghanistan, Libya, Ukraine, Hong Kong, Egypt, Iraq and Japan, and has worked for Channel 4 News, Al Jazeera English and America’s ABC. In 2016 he became a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University.
We acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation - the custodians of the country on which we meet - and acknowledge their Elders, past and present.
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