Film Screening: „Election Campaing Undercover“

In a world of ubiquitous data collection and a digital economy built on its use, the manipulation of elections has become a topic that is increasingly making headlines. How can targeted political advertising change voting behaviour and steer the public debate? And how does it all work in practice? Which influence does targeting have on the spread of political messages?

To understand how political ads can impact our democracies, I invite to a screening of the documentary “Election campaign undercover” by Gesine Enwaldt and Peter Kreysler, 2021. The directors conducted an insightful experiment: The investigative journalist Peter Kreysler infiltrated global PR agencies to document the business of data brokers, election manipulation, interference and the possibilities of campaign strategists today.

The documentary will be followed by a panel discussing recent elections in Europe and an open discussion with all participants.

The event will take place on 14 November, 14:00-15:30

in the European Parliament, room ASP 5G1, Brussels.

Speakers:

• Peter Kreysler, investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker.
• Dr. Emma Briant, scholar and academic researcher on media, contemporary propaganda, surveillance and information warfare who was involved in exposing the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal (tbc).
• Zoé Fourel, Research Coordinator at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, Digital Analysis Unit, where she is involved in the analysis of social networks and mapping of online networks related to extremism, disinformation and hate speech.
• Fernando Hortal Foronda, Digital Policy Officer at the European Partnership for Democracy.