[Air-L] Gender & Tech Talk Series – January 27, 11:00am EST – Dis/Misinformation and Political Extremism

[Jess Reia]

Dear colleagues,



The Digital Technology for Democracy Lab is pleased to announce the
seventh session
of the Gender & Tech Online Talk Series, scheduled for January 27, 2026, at
11:00 a.m. (EST).



The “Dis/Misinformation and Political Extremism” talk will explore the role
of digital technologies in the crisis of trust in democracy and
institutions worldwide. The focus is on the rise of an organized global
far-right and the weaponization of information at scale to produce harm to
democracy and public institutions, with special attention to Global
Majority regions. Speakers can also discuss the possibilities of recreating
narratives about free speech and human rights protection in the age of
datafication. Some issues we hope to address include the current trends in
the dis/misinformation field, the role of informality and social
inequalities in these trends, the main challenges in tackling online harms,
and public policy interventions that represent best practices in addressing
dis/misinformation online.



We are honoured to welcome two keynote speakers:

Rosana Pinheiro-Machado (University College Dublin)

Robyn Caplan (Duke University)



The webinar is free and open to the public. You can register here:
https://dtdlab.virginia.edu/event/gender-tech-dis-misinformation-political-extremism/




The Gender and Tech Online Talk Series brings together leading scholars,
advocates, and practitioners to examine the intersections of gender,
technology, democracy, and human rights. Its purpose is to critically
explore how digital platforms and technological infrastructures impact
women, queer, and gender-diverse individuals, while also identifying
pathways toward more inclusive, rights-based models of digital governance.




We invite everyone interested in advancing equity and justice in tech
governance to participate in this important conversation.



The series is co-organized by Yasmin Curzi and Jess Reia and is
sponsored by the
UVA DTD Lab.



Please feel free to share this announcement.



Thank you!

Jess and Yasmin


*Jess Reia, Ph.D.  (they/them)*

Andrew Carnegie Fellow <https://www.carnegie.org/awards/honoree/jess-reia/>
Assistant Professor of Data Science
Faculty co-lead, Digital Technology for Democracy Lab
<https://karshinstitute.virginia.edu/digital-technology-democracy-lab>,
University
of Virginia

Visiting Scholar, Institute for Global Public Policy
<https://igpp.fudan.edu.cn/igppen/main.htm>, Fudan University
2024-2025 Non-Resident Fellow at the Center for Democracy & Technology
<https://cdt.org/>
<https://karshinstitute.virginia.edu/>

New book: Urban Music Governance

<https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/U/bo245009492.html>
<https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/U/bo245009492.html>
reia at virginia.edu | https://datascience.virginia.edu/