23 May, 14:30 – 15:30 CEST

In this webinar, Marcus Bösch from Hamburg University discusses disinformation, propaganda, and TikTok.

Is the future of TikTok up in the air? President Biden has signed legislation mandating the sale of TikTok, citing concerns over data sharing with China, disinformation, and foreign propaganda. In response, TikTok has filed a lawsuit.

In this session, Marcus presents the findings of two joint research projects. He explores the legal conflict between free speech and state security interests, focusing on TikTok’s alleged manipulation tactics, discussing sound-based disinformation on the platform and the phenomenon referred to as “thirst trap propaganda”. By contrasting these findings to the results of a qualitative survey of journalism and business elites on mis- and disinformation characteristics, he suggests urgently needed counter-measures.

Find here the TikTok toolkit for research by Marcus Bosch: http://bit.ly/thetiktoktools

Watch the replay of this webinar on our YouTube channel:

Speaker:

Marcus Bösch, HAW Hamburg

Marcus works as researcher and communication advisor. He is a research fellow at HAW
Hamburg and publishes the leading subscriber newsletter Understanding TikTok. Marcus
studied politics, history and media informatics (M.A.) in Cologne and Cambridge and has
worked with Deutsche Welle, Germanys International broadcaster for more than 15 years.

Moderator:

Ana Romero-Vicente, EU DisinfoLab

Ana Romero-Vicente works as a researcher at EU DisinfoLab, where she analyses and counters disinformation from different angles. She is apprised of the Spanish disinformation landscape and has published several international investigations on the monetisation of disinformation. She currently addresses mis/disinformation about climate change and monitors audio-visual social networks such as YouTube and TikTok. With a master’s degree in Journalism, Ana’s professional profile has always been very versatile. She has worked as a financial journalist, has been involved in EU Election Observation Missions and worked as a communication expert for EU-funded projects during her stay of 14 years in Brussels.

The opinions expressed are those of the speakers/authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of EU DisinfoLab. This webinar does not represent an endorsement by EU DisinfoLab of any organisation.