Disinformation can be used by foreign powers to undermine democracy and weaken countries. Help Georgia stay strong and have a chance to win $42,500 to build tech tools to help! Together with different partners, USAID has launched a program to promote fighting against disinformation, which is a huge threat in the digital era. The project consists of different parts, and it launches with a FREE online event featuring speakers with an immense background in fighting against fake news. This is a launch event for a new month-long innovation competition with a prize of up to $42,500 aimed at creating useable and scalable solutions to the disinformation challenge in Georgia and beyond. A bit about speakers: Narine Khachatryan is a researcher and trainer with Bellingcat (based in Armenia). She helps journalists in the South Caucasus and Central Asia to conduct open-source investigations. She will be talking about how technology has assisted Bellingcat in conducting its highly successful investigations and public exposés. Alistair Coleman is a member of the BBC Monitoring Disinformation Team (UK). He is a disinformation specialist that has written extensively on the topic, as well as others such as terrorism, cybersecurity, conspiracy theories, and COVID-19 and anti-vaccination movements. He will be talking about the critical role that monitoring plays in countering disinformation. Batu Kutelia is Vice President of the Atlantic Council of Georgia and a Next Generation Leader Fellow at the McCain Institute for International Leadership (US). He has held various ministerial positions in the Georgian government related to security, intelligence, and foreign affairs, and will be sharing his knowledge of the significant threat posed by Russian information operations. Nino Rizhamadze is a lawyer and project coordinator for the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED). She has extensive experience monitoring elections – particularly via social media – using a wide range of methodologies and techniques. She will talk about her successes exposing information operations on social media and the role of tech tools. Please use the following link for joining the conversation: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAvf-ygrj0qGNd5Fqbe2PgCE1XPF4xlu9IA
