Disinformation and religion: exploring the two sides of their complex relationship

Participants:Nikos Panagiotou, Associate Professor at the School of Journalism and Mass Media Communications of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece & President of DCN GlobalModerator:Aurra Kawanzaruwa, Manager of DCN AFRICA Outstanding quotes:Nikos:“In the present, [disinformation] has been used as a way to promote hate speech, hate crimes and to mobilize people against other people based on their religious beliefs.”“People can become really fanatic on this issue, as they feel that a part of their identity has been insulted. So, any attack against my religious beliefs is considered an attack against my own identity.”“Fake news is being formed by exploiting stereotypes that we have about others. We may have a certain biased perception, then fake news comes and perpetrates that. I think it is easier to do that with religious issues, because there are alright some stereotypes circulating against religious communities and it is easier, in a way, to exploit these religion-related beliefs that we have seen taken form through stereotypes.”“We live in a polarized world and religion has been used to bring one community against the other. In this effort, fake news plays a very specific role, to distort the perception I have of others because they belong to a different religious group.”Aurra:“In Africa, religion has been used since pre-colonial days. Religion has been what united African communities and tribes across the continent and as we know, unfortunately, religion was used as a huge tool when it came to colonization, to separate and to justify lots of injustices that took place. It has been the underlying tone across the continent, where religion plays a really, really important role in politics and politicians lean very heavily on churches and religious groups and sects, in order to sway public opinion, especially in election time.” DisinfoHacks Project is an innovative training program that brings together partners expertise, engaging an ecosystem of communication and media stakeholders, startup innovators and influencers in identifying, assessing, and combating disinformation." Organized by DCN Global, #ADandPRLAB, YET, funded by U.S. Department of State and U.S. Mission in Greece, supported by Found.ation and SocialInnov.