Presentations, talks & workshops
The Disinformation Project team have presented research to both academic and community institutions. Public intellectualism is an important component of our research as disinformation can influence a wide spectrum of areas, including inciting racism, xenophobia, culture wars, and can affect politics through the mobilization of populism.
Presentations & academic conferences
- A. Al-Rawi. 鈥淒isruptive Information & how to counter it鈥 virtual lecture series, Island Health Palliative Medicine Grand Rounds. Vancouver Island, British Columbia. March 18, 2025.
- A. Al-Rawi. 鈥淒isruptive information in Canada鈥. The main speaker in the Roundtable discussion organized by the Canadian Association for Security and Intelligence Studies (CASIS). Vancouver, Canada. January 16, 2025.
- A. Al-Rawi. 鈥溾楾hat's True, Isn't It?' - Identifying and Countering the Misuse of Information鈥 online talk. Non-Academic Staff Association (NASA), the University of Alberta. December 3, 2024.
- A. Al-Rawi. 鈥淕lobal health & misinformation鈥. In the Knowledge Centre Global Health (KCGH鈥檚) Symposium 鈥楴avigating Truths: Demystifying Mis- and Disinformation in (Global) Health鈥. Utrecht, The Netherlands. November 27, 2024.
- A. Al-Rawi. 鈥淒isruptive Information in the Canadian Information Space鈥. The 2024 West Coast Security Conference. Vancouver, BC, Canada. November 19, 2024.
- A. Al-Rawi. 鈥淧roactive monitoring of social media to counter misinformation: Narratives on avian influenza A (H5N1) on Instagram and Facebook鈥 [Poster presentation]. With Lee, K., Ackah, B. B. B., & Fakida, A. BCCDC鈥檚 17th Annual Research Symposium, Vancouver, BC, Canada. October 28 - November 1, 2024.
- A. Al-Rawi participated as a panelist in an online webinar organized by the National Capital FreeNet (NCF) 鈥淢isinformation, Disinformation and Fake News鈥. October 29, 2024.
- A. Al-Rawi gave a talk entitled 鈥淭he Weaponization of Misinformation鈥. Higher seminar series, Journalism Department, S枚dert枚rn University, Stockholm, Sweden. May 2, 2024.
- A. Al-Rawi. 鈥淢isinformation, Surveillance, & Trolling on/in the Middle East鈥. Public Lecture at the Fifth Annual International Winter School -Social Media, Surveillance, and Societies of Control. Arab Center for Research & Policy Studies, Doha, Qatar. January 7, 2024.
- Ahmed Al-Rawi served as a panelist in 鈥淗ow can we deal with hate on the Internet?鈥. Online Hate, Media (Mis)Representation, and Systemic Racism Conference. Toronto Metropolitan University, Ted Rogers School of Management, Diversity Institute. June 23, 2023.
- A. Al-Rawi. 鈥淭he Weaponization and Discourses of Misinformation in Facebook Ads鈥. In 鈥楩ake News, Misinformation, and All That Junk: What We See and Why Some Believe鈥. International Communication Association Conference (ICA), Toronto, Canada. May 26, 2023.
- A. Al-Rawi served as a panelist in 鈥淧olarization, Populism and Post-Truth鈥 session. In 鈥淥ur Whole Society: Finding Common Ground in a Time of Polarization鈥 Conference, Wilfrid Laurier University & Martin Luther University College. Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. May 8, 2023.
- A. Al-Rawi served as a discussant and moderator for the 鈥淭he Domestic Disinformation Dilemma鈥 panel, 鈥淭he Weaponization of Disinformation in Canada鈥 Workshop. University of Waterloo, Cyber Security & Privacy Institute, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. April 28, 2023.
- A. Al-Rawi. 鈥淭he networked trolling of critical journalists and news organizations in Iraq鈥. Online Symposium on Digital Threats against Journalists. Organized by the Journalism Safety Research Network (JSRN), the Centre for Freedom of the Media (CFOM), & the Department of Journalism Studies at the University of Sheffield, UK. March 28, 2023.
- Chris Tenove, A. Al-Rawi et al. 鈥淪hooting the Messenger: Forms and Impacts of Reputational Attacks on Journalists鈥. in the Online Symposium on Digital Threats against Journalists. The Journalism Safety Research Network (JSRN) et al. (see above), the University of Sheffield, UK. March 28, 2023.
- A. Al-Rawi participated as a panelist in the 鈥淒emocracy in Crisis鈥 panel, 2023 CIVIX Democracy Bootcamp, Vancouver, Canada, March 2, 2023.
- A. Al-Rawi presented a guest lecture on 鈥淢isinformation in/on Canada鈥. Library & Learning Centre, Douglas College. Westminster, December 15, 2022.
- A. Al-Rawi. 鈥淢isinformation, mobilization, & violence鈥. The Canadian Network for Research on Terrorism, Security, and Society (TSAS) Gala Conference, Ottawa, Ontario, October 13, 2022.
- A. Al-Rawi. 鈥淭rolling the Messenger: How state-run Disinformation weaponizes the public sphere鈥. Informa莽茫o/Information: VII Congresso Internacional de Comunica莽茫o, Jornalismo e Espa莽o P煤blico| VII International Congress on Communication, Journalism and Public Sphere. Coimbra University, Coimbra, Portugal, July 15, 2022.
- A. Al-Rawi & Devan Prithipaul, "The Public鈥檚 Appropriation of Multimodal Discourses of Fake News on Social Media". Pre - International Communication Association Conference (Pre-ICA), Post-Truth and Affective Publics鈥 Challenges to Social Ties. Disinformation, Populism, Data-Driven Propaganda. Centre for Research on Mediations (CREM), Universit茅 de Lorraine, Metz, France. May 25, 2022.
- A. Al-Rawi delivered a lecture entitled "Misinformation in the Middle East". The Media & Digital Academy of Beirut (MDLAB), the Lebanese American University, Beirut, May 21, 2022.
- A. Al-Rawi delivered a workshop for academics entitled "Practical research toolkits and guides to research misinformation". The Media & Digital Academy of Beirut (MDLAB), the Lebanese American University, Beirut, May 21, 2022.
- A. Al-Rawi, Nicole Stewart, Carmen Celestini, & Nathan Worku. 鈥淒elegitimizing the Legitimate: Dark Social Movements on Telegram鈥. with . The Canadian Communication Association (CCA), the Canadian Congress for Social Sciences and Humanities, May 19, 2022.
- A. Al-Rawi. 鈥淭opic modelling of Far-right Canadians鈥 tweets on COVID-19鈥. Navigating Information and Race in the Era of COVID-19 Symposium. York University, Toronto, Canada. May 3, 2022.
- A. Al-Rawi participated as a panelist in the "Disinformation on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic: Prevalence and journalistic challenges". The panel discussion was organized by the Rogers Chair in Studies in Journalism and New Information Technology, Western University, Ontario. April 28, 2022.
- Carmen Celestini gave a talk at Montclair State University on "Angry Religion: The Rise of American Theocracy". Part 3: The Phenomenal Rise of Conspiracy Theories. April 28, 2022.
- A. Al-Rawi gave a talk on disinformation and COVID-19 at the Communications Department of Vancouver Coastal Health. March 28, 2022.
- A. Al-Rawi served as a panelist in the "Digital Disinformation and Right-Wing Extremism" Webinar. Concordia University, Department of Communication Studies. February 24, 2022.
- A. Al-Rawi, Nathan Worku, Carmen Celestini, and Nicole Stewart. 鈥淒ark Participation on BitChute by the Canadian Far-Right Extremists鈥. Hating on Social Media Symposium at the Centre on Hate, Bias, and Extremism, Ontario Tech University. February 7-10, 2022.
- A. Al-Rawi participated as a panelist in the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) Expert Rountable on 鈥淰ideo Games and Violent Extremism鈥. December 6, 2021.
- A. Al-Rawi participated as a panelist in the Roundtable on alt-right in Canada event. Concordia University, Montreal. December 3, 2021.
- A. Al-Rawi, Carmen Celestini, Nicole Stewart, and Nathan Worku. 鈥淗ow Google autocomplete algorithms mainstream hate and mislead the public?鈥. The Media/Culture Journal special issue Workshop- 鈥楥onspiracy鈥. Federation University Australia. November 28, 2021.
- A. Al-Rawi delivered a plenary speaker presentation as part of the Educational Speakers Series organized by Toronto Public Library and CanAge entitled 鈥淔ake News: Identify and Ignore鈥. November 23, 2021.
- A. Al-Rawi participated as a panelist in the 鈥淒igital Media Literacy in Canada鈥, Media Literacy Week 2021, MediaSmarts. October 28, 2021.
- A. Al-Rawi, 鈥淒isinformation under a networked authoritarian state: Saudi trolls鈥 credibility attacks against Jamal Khashoggi鈥. The 3rd Multidisciplinary International Symposium on Disinformation in Open Online Media. MISDOOM. The Oxford Internet Institute, Oxford University, UK. September 21-22, 2021.
- A. Al-Rawi, 鈥淔oreign interference in the Canadian elections鈥. CIVIX鈥檚 2021 Democracy Bootcamp. Democracy, Disinformation and Social Media: Sorting through Political Messaging in Canada. August 25, 2021.
- A. Al-Rawi, 鈥淒isinformation discourses in Canadian news media鈥. with Joseph Nicolai. The Canadian Communication Association, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. June 4, 2021.
- A. Al-Rawi, 鈥淭he weaponizing of fake news in the Facebook ads targeting Canadians鈥 with Abdelrahman Fakida. The 71st Annual ICA Conference, Engaging the Essential Work of Care. May 27-31, 2021.
- A. Al-Rawi, 鈥淐ovid-19 in North America: Managing the risks of discrimination of marginalized populations鈥 with Lea Hellmueller. Panel on Cross-Cultural Approaches to Identifying Pressures on Journalists Covering COVID-19: A Project of the Global Risk Journalism Hub. The 71st Annual ICA Conference, Engaging the Essential Work of Care. May 27-31, 2021.
- A. Al-Rawi, 鈥淒isinformation and bad actors鈥, Canadian Science Policy Pre-Conference - Building Bridges between Science, Policy and Society- Limiting the Impact of Misinformation and Disinformation; Planning, Recognition, and Response, Ottawa, Canada. November 3-15, 2020.
- A. Al-Rawi, 鈥淚nstagram鈥檚 memes on fake news,鈥 the 70th Annual ICA Conference, Open Communication, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. May 21-25, 2020.
- A. Al-Rawi, 鈥淜ek鈥檚 memes war on Instagram鈥, the 70th ICA preconference - Visual Politics: Image Production, Perception, and Influence, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. May 21, 2020.
- A. Al-Rawi, 鈥淩ussian Trolls鈥 Representation of Islam on Social Media鈥. Centre for Comparative Muslim Studies, 尤物视频, Vancouver. November 7, 2019.
- A. Al-Rawi, 鈥淔acts or Fiction? Misinformation, Media and the Canadian Election鈥, SFU Public Square, Strengthening Canadian Democracy Initiative, Vancouver Public Library. October 17, 2019.
- A. Al-Rawi, 鈥淔ake news on Instagram鈥, the 1st Tsinghua TransCultural Communication Roundtable. Transcultural Solidarities across Global Divides: Histories, Institutions and Agencies. Future Media Lab, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. October 12, 2019.
- A. Al-Rawi, "Fake news in Canada" at 鈥淔ake vs. Fact: A Free Journalism Workshop Series鈥. New Canadian Media & the Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue, 尤物视频, Vancouver. September 28, 2019.
- A. Al-Rawi, "Fake news and the war on truth" at 鈥淔ake vs. Fact: A Free Journalism Workshop Series鈥. New Canadian Media & the School of Journalism, Mount Royal University, Calgary. September 27, 2019.
- A. Al-Rawi, 鈥淢anufacturing rage: The Russian Internet Research Agency鈥檚 political astroturfing on social media鈥, with Anis Rahman, the Canadian Communication Association, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. June 3-6, 2019.
- A. Al-Rawi, "Fake news discourses on Instagram", 尤物视频鈥檚 Public Square event 鈥淐onfronting the Disinformation Age: 2019 Community Summit- Innovations in Research鈥. April 10, 2019.
- A. Al-Rawi, 鈥淭opic modelling & fake news discourses on MSM vs. SNS鈥. Symposium on Public Discourse and Data Science, Big Data Hub, 尤物视频, Burnaby, Canada. October 12, 2018.
- A. Al-Rawi, "What the fake? An analysis of online media dissemination and the bot-assisted amplification of fake news鈥. In Internet, Politics, Policy 2018: Long Live Democracy? St Anne's College, University of Oxford, UK. September 20-21, 2018.
Other activities
- Ahmed Al-Rawi guest edited a journal special issue on Mis/Disinformation in/on Canada for the Global Media Journal - Canadian edition in 2022. See details .
- A. Al-Rawi served as a member in the Advisory Committee of the Vaccination, Misinformation and Digital Media Project, {refugee613} from April 2022 until March 2023.
- Carmen Celestini was invited to the Canadian House of Commons as an expert witness. The Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security (SECU), 44th Parliament, 1st Session. Rise of Ideologically Motivated Violent Extremism in Canada. April 28, 2022.
- Ahmed Al-Rawi was invited to the Canadian House of Commons as an expert witness. The Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security (SECU), 44th Parliament, 1st Session. Assessment of Canada鈥檚 Security Posture in Relation to Russia. April 5, 2022.
- A. Al-Rawi participated as a disinformation expert in the Climate Change 2050: National Climate Change Science Plan, Science Communication & Knowledge Mobilization Roundtable, co-hosted by Environment and Climate Change Canada. March 9, 2022.
- A. Al-Rawi participated in the MediaSmarts online symposium to create a digital media literacy strategy in Canada. "From Access to Engagement: A Digital Media Literacy Strategy for Canada". February 9, 2022.
- A. Al-Rawi guest edited a journal issue on Disinformation in the Middle East for the journal in late 2021.
- A. Al-Rawi served as an expert in developing the Canadian Association of Journalists鈥 training course 鈥淢isinfo 101: How to identify and report on misinformation鈥 in late 2021.
- A. Al-Rawi participated with a number of cognitive scientists in the SciBeh 2020 Virtual Workshop on "Building an online information environment for policy relevant science"- Combatting COVID-19 misinformation with lessons from climate change denial, 9-10 November, 2020.