Viral Deception, Polarization and Networks Workshop

This workshop, organized by The Warren Center, will run over two days. In the first day, five keynote speakers will survey the "lay of the land" from different perspectives. For example, how does propaganda or deceptive news spread over social networks, and what can different institutions do about it? Does viral deception cause polarization, or is it merely a reflection of it? How has viral deception and polarization affected recent election outcomes?

In the second day, leading specialists in computer science, economics and sociology will discuss different ways to think about the spread of deceptive news, its effects on important social outcomes---like misinformation and polarization---and what might social media platforms be able to do about it.

Dates and Venue:

Friday, November 2nd and Saturday, November 3rd, 2018

Glandt Forum, Singh Center for Nanotechnology

3205 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104

Day 1: Keynote speakers

9:45 am - 10:00 am: COFFEE AND LIGHT SNACKS

10:00 am - 11:00 am: Alan Abramowitz, Department of Political Science, Emory University

11:00 am - 11:30 am: BREAK

11:30 am - 12:30 pm: Levi Boxell, Department of Economics, Stanford University

12:30 pm - 1:30 pm: LUNCH

1:30 pm - 2:30 pm: Samantha Bradshaw, Computational Propaganda Project, Oxford University

2:30 pm - 3:00 pm: BREAK

3:00 pm - 4:00 pm: Eugene Kiely, Executive Director of FactCheck.org

4:00 pm - 4:30 pm: BREAK

4:30 pm - 5:30 pm: Katerina Eva Matsa, Pew Research Foundation

6:00 pm: Dinner for all speakers

Day 2:

8:30 am - 9:00 am: LIGHT BREAKFAST

9:00 am - 9:45 am: Ron Berman, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

9:45 am - 10:00 am: BREAK

10:00 am - 10:45 am: Ozan Candogan, Booth School of Business, University of Chicago

10:45 am - 11:00 am: BREAK

11:00 am - 11:45 am: Marcos Fernandes, Department of Economics, Stony Brook University

11:45 am - 1:00 pm: LUNCH

1:00 pm - 1:45 pm: Sandra González-Bailón, Annenberg School, University of Pennsylvania

1:45 pm - 2:00 pm: BREAK

2:00 pm - 2:45 pm: Evan Sadler, Department of Economics, Columbia University

2:45 pm - 3:00 pm: BREAK

3:00 pm - 3:45 pm: Donghee Jo, Department of Economics, MIT

3:45 pm - 4:00 pm: BREAK

4:00 pm - 4:45 pm: Srijan Kumar, Department of Computer Science, Stanford University

Organizers:

  • Eduard Talamàs, Warren Center Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania
  • Michael Kearns, Professor and National Center Chair, Department of Computer and Information Science, University of Pennsylvania
  • Rakesh Vohra, George A. Weiss and Lydia Bravo Weiss University Professor, Departments of Economics and Electrical & Systems Engineering, University of Pennsylvania

Registration: