JRS III: Democracy Threats and Public Discourse Analysis

HYBRIDS celebrates its third meeting with a joint event with IBERIFIER

This week will focus on presenting the progress of the HYBRIDS doctoral network and discussing concerns related to hybrid intelligence, culminating in a joint event with IBERIFIER, the Digital Media Observatory for Spain and Portugal, which is part of the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO). The event will be divided into two main thematic blocks: “Threats to Democracy and Analysis of Public Discourse” (October 22-23), and “Artificial Intelligence and Disinformation” (October 24-25). 

From October 22 to 25, the third meeting organized by the HYBRIDS project will take place in Santiago de Compostela. 

In the latter stage, sessions will begin with a presentation of the progress made on the doctoral theses and research, grouped into four thematic blocks. Following this, Ramón Salaverría, coordinator of IBERIFIER and professor of Journalism at the University of Navarra, will present the latest developments from the observatory. 

Joint event. The meeting will begin with a presentation of the progress of the doctoral theses and the research conducted thus far, grouped into four thematic blocks. This will be followed by a presentation of the activities and findings of IBERIFIER, led by its director, Ramón Salaverría, a professor of Journalism at the University of Navarra. 

Professor Paolo Roso from the Polytechnic University of Valencia will give a talk on hate speech and disinformation analysis through language models (NLP). Miguel Paisana, also a researcher at IBERIFIER, will speak on analyzing the impact of disinformation on Portugal’s media ecosystem and international media literacy strategies.  

On the afternoon of October 24, a roundtable discussion with renowned journalists will debate the role of artificial intelligence and disinformation. The debate will be moderated by HYBRIDS doctoral students and will include the participation of the following journalists:  

• Alfonso Pato, promoter and director of the Festival de Cans, has been a scriptwriter and program director at TVG and TVE, and currently collaborates with elDiario.es.
• César Rodríguez, editor and digital content creator at La Voz de Galicia, has extensive experience in media management.
• Guillermo Infantes, fact-checking specialist and member of the verification team at Newtral.es.
• Íñigo Caínzos, journalist at Radio Galicia (Cadena SER), with a background in Business Administration and Journalism.
• Pablo Hernández Escayola, academic research coordinator at Maldita.

The next day, on the morning of Friday, October 25, Guillermo Infantes, fact-checker at Newtral, will give a talk presenting an overview of the fact-checking work done by specialized journalists. He will explain how disinformation is defined, the common patterns followed in spreading hoaxes, how bad actors exploit crisis contexts, and will mention the role of artificial intelligence in this field.  

Registration for the event is free, and attendees can participate either in person or online.  

The HYBRIDS Doctoral Network is funded by the European Union through the Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (HE MSCA) and co-funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) through the HE funding guarantee. HYBRIDS is the result of an international consortium led from Santiago de Compostela (Spain) by the Research Centre in Intelligent Technologies (CiTIUS). It includes 15 members (eight beneficiaries and seven partners) from seven European countries: France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. The participating institutions include seven universities, three R&D centers, two non-profit foundations, and three private companies.