ACIR Presents – Major General USA Ret Mari K. Eder

The Atlanta Council on International Relations presents Major General USA Ret Mari K. Eder. She will be presenting on The Information Apocalypse: Factors degrading the effectiveness of mass communication in reaching influencer audiences.

The Global Information Apocalypse:

A complex and rapidly-evolving public information landscape is under attack daily – from state and non-state actors, from within and from the outside. Conventional journalism competes with user-generated content in a toxic environment filled with hidden bias, hackers, trolls, and false information. As a result, the role that news media has traditionally played as ‘the fourth estate’ in democratic societies, has all but dissipated. Tech likewise plays a major role, with innovations from Virtual Reality to Artificial Intelligence continuing to distort reality.

The spreading erosion of confidence and trust is beginning to have a significant impact not only on America but also on our friends and allies, blurring lines, authorities, and conventional sources. The daily onslaught is generating a global loss of trust in information itself, not just sources and topics. Nearly seven out of ten people worldwide worry about false information or ‘fake news’ being used as a weapon. Many nations are taking actions to root out false news. Yet the implications for societies and indeed for democratic institutions themselves continues to rise.