event

At the Vanguard: How Women Lead the Charge in Researching Influence Operations

Tue. March 23rd, 2021
Live Online

Women lead the way in researching influence operations, but their leadership comes at a cost. Often identifying and exposing nefarious campaigns that seek to discredit others, influence operations researchers frequently become targets of the operations themselves.

Join us for a conversation with Maria Ressa, Shireen Mitchell, and Luiza Bandeira, moderated by Alicia Wanless, on the experiences of some of those women leading the charge to understand and counter influence operations. What drew them to the field? What are some of the challenges they face? And how can women be better protected online?

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
event speakers

Maria Ressa

Maria Ressa is a leading journalist in Asia whose reporting career has spanned over 35 years. She is the co-founder of Rappler, the top digital-only news site that is leading the fight for press freedom in the Philippines.

Alicia Wanless

Senior Fellow, Technology and International Affairs, Director, Information Environment Project

Alicia Wanless is the director of the Information Environment Project.

Shireen Mitchell

Shireen Mitchell is an award-winning social entrepreneur and founder/senior strategist at Stop Online Violence Against Women (SOVAW) —a leading research organization based in Washington, DC (and parent to the Stop Digital Voter Suppression project). A member of the independent Facebook Oversight Board, Mitchell also founded the organization Digital Sisters/as — the first organization to specifically focus on women and girls of color in technology and digital media.

Luiza Bandeira

Luiza Bandeira is an associate editor at the DFRLab, where she works to expose and explain disinformation. Previously, she worked as a journalist for the BBC’s World Service and Folha de S.Paulo.