Non-profit community education group Tohatoha announced today it is launching a new initiative that aims to counter the spread of disinformation around climate change both in Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally. The Climate Disinformation Night .
Friday, 4 June 2021, 11:10 am
AUCKLAND, 4 June 2021 – Non-profit
group Tohatoha officially launched a new initiative today
that aims to educate people to help prevent the spread of
disinformation about COVID-19, combat hate speech and
address conspiracy theories that may spread quickly in New
Zealand via social media.
In partnership with the
organisation behind the Social Media
Analysis Toolkit (SMAT) app co-founded by US-based
researcher Emmi Bevensee the initiative will track and
scrutinise issues relevant to New Zealand that are trending
on a range of internet platforms, allowing targeted New
Zealand communities and organisations to understand where
efforts should be focused to prevent the spread of
Tohatoha CEO Mandy Henk and Emmi Bevensee, developer of the Social Media Analysis Toolkit (SMAT), have presented oral evidence to the Justice Committee at NZ Parliament that shows misinformation from ‘malicious actors’ originating on fringe websites .