Cambridge Disinformation Summit (2026)
8 Apr 2026
9 Apr 2026
10 Apr 2026
Time to be confirmed
By invitation only
University of Cambridge
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Research on systemic risks from technology that affects information streams or the amplification or monetisation of disinformation
The 2026 Cambridge Disinformation Summit is designed to convene multi-discipline global academic, legislator, regulator, and professional thought leaders to explore and engage interventions on systemic risks from disinformation supported by technology such as AI and online social and search platforms.
Papers will be selected by an interdisciplinary scientific committee.
Programme (tentative)
09:00-09:15
Welcome and agenda
09:15-09:45
Keynote: Systemic Academic/Science/Climate Risks
09:45-10:30
Keynote: Systemic Financial Risks
10:30-11:00
Break
11:00-12:30
Research workshop 1: Systemic Risks from AI
- Algorithmic personalisation features and democratic values: what regulation initiatives are missing.
- The impact of deepfake videos and the (elusive) search for effective interventions.
- The simulation of judgment in LLMs.
12:30-13:30
Lunch
13:30-14:00
Case study on researcher harassment
14:00-15:30
Research workshop 2: Effects on Vulnerable Audiences
- Safeguarding democracy: Countering gendered disinformation in Canadian socio-political discourse.
- Rhetorical features from social media predict real-world violent outcomes of manifestos.
- Parasitic capital: disordered information and deception in decentralised finance (DeFi) ecosystems.
15:30-16:00
Break
16:00-16:45
Keynote: Effects of Disinformation on Local Politics
- Speaker: Sitting US state Governor.
- Zoom livestream.
16:45-17:30
Break
17:30-18:45
Buffet light dinner
19:00-21:00
Emotional audience engagement: Perspective from a Prominent Entertainer
08:50-09:00
Welcome and agenda
09:00-10:00
Panel discussion: Concentrated Platform Ownership and Digital Sovereignty
10:00-10:30
Break
10:30-11:30
Panel discussion: Potential Systemic Risks from Para- and Machine-Social Relationships
11:30-12:00
Break
12:00-13:00
Panel discussion: Impact of Disinformation on Marginalised Communities
13:00-14:00
Lunch
14:00-15:30
Panel Discussion: Systemic Risks of Violent Political Rhetoric
15:30-16:00
Break
16:00-17:00
Keynote: Systemic Economic Risks
17:00-18:15
Break
19:00-21:00
Keynote dinner: Tech Culture
09:00-10:15
Panel discussion: Free Speech and Censorship
10:15-10:45
Break
09:00-10:15
Research presentations
- The impact of AI and digital platforms on the information ecosystem.
- AI, opinion ecosystems and finance.
10:45-12:00
Policy discussion breakout
12:00-13:00
Lunch
13:00-14:15
Research presentations
- Widespread revisions of self-reported emissions by major US corporations.
- AI’s survey-taking capabilities are surpassing those of humans.
- Filtered for you: algorithmic bias on TikTok and Instagram in Germany.
13:00-14:15
Discussion: Digital Services Regulation
13:00-14:15
Workshop: Digital Safety
14:15-14:45
Break
14:45-16:00
Research presentations
- Algorithms, biases, and belief polarisation
- Mapping controversy and polarisation through claim extraction: analysing online discourse following the assassination of Charlie Kirk
- Echo chambers and information brokers on Truth Social: a study of network dynamics and political Discourse
14:45-16:00
TBD
14:45-16:00
TBD
Committee, speakers and call for papers
Scientific Committee members
The Scientific Committee includes:
Anat Admati
The George GC Parker Professor of Finance and Economics
Stanford University Graduate School of Business
Imran Ahmed
CEO
Center for Countering Digital Hate
Henry Adjer
Founder
Latent Space Advisory
Brad Badertscher
Deloitte Professor of Accountancy
University of Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business
Ruth Ben-Ghiat
Professor of History and Italian Studies
New York University School of Arts and Sciences
Beth Blankespoor
Professor of Accounting and Marguerite Reimers Endowed Faculty Fellow
University of Washington Foster School of Business
Emma Briant
Visiting Associate Professor
University of Notre Dame Lucy Family Institute for Data and Society
Meredith Clark
Associate Professor of Race and Political Communication
University of North Carolina Hussman School of Journalism and Media
Yonca Ertimur
Tandean Rustandy Esteemed Endowed Professor
University of Colorado Leeds School of Business
Alan Jagolinzer
Professor of Financial Accounting
Co-Director of the Cambridge Centre for Financial Reporting and Accountability
University of Cambridge Judge Business School
Christian Leuz
Charles F Pohl Distinguished Service Professor of Accounting and Finance
University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Stephan Lewandowsky
Chair in Cognitive Psychology
University of Bristol School of Psychological Science
Oliver Linton
Professor of Political Economy and Fellow of Trinity College
University of Cambridge
Kelvin Low
Professor of Law
The University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law
Alice Marwick
Director of Research, Data & Society Research Institute
Senior Faculty Researcher, Center for Information, Technology and Public Life (CITAP)
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Gina Neff
Professor of Responsible AI
Queen Mary University London
Executive Director
University of Cambridge Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy
Loriana Pelizzon
Deputy Scientific Director, Director Department of Financial Markets
SAFE/Goethe University
Co-Vice-Chair of the Advisory Scientific Committee
European Systemic Risk Board
Shiva Rajgopal
Roy Bernard Kester and TW Byrnes Professor of Accounting and Auditing
Columbia Business School
Yoel Roth
Vice President Trust and Safety
Match Group
Marietje Schaake
International Policy Director
Stanford University Cyber Policy Center
Jake Shapiro
Professor of Politics and International Affairs
Princeton University School of Public and International Affairs
Chester Spatt
Pamela R and Kenneth B Dunn Professor of Finance
Carnegie Mellon University Tepper School of Business
Former Chief Economist
US Securities and Exchange Commission
Kate Starbird
Professor of Human Centered Design and Engineering
University of Washington Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering
David Stillwell
Professor of Computational Social Science
Director of the Psychometrics Centre
University of Cambridge Judge Business School
Eric Talley
Marc and Eva Stern Professor of Law and Business
Columbia Law School
Shannon Vallor
Baillie Gifford Chair in the Ethics of Data and Artificial Intelligence
Director, Centre for Technomoral Futures
University of Edinburgh Futures Institute
Sander van der Linden
Professor of Social Psychology in Society
University of Cambridge Department of Psychology
Keynote speakers
Information about the keynote speakers will be released later. Please check back for more information.
Call for papers
Submissions have now closed.
Papers from any discipline or research methods will be considered that relate to the Summit’s theme:
Research on systemic risks from technology that affects information streams or the amplification or monetisation of disinformation.
Potential research focus might include (but is not limited to) the effects on global systemic economic, health, environmental, migration, human rights or human conflict risk from:
- social media message feed algorithms that amplify disinformation or suppress evidence-based narratives
- search advertising algorithms that incentivise expanded reach of disinformation or suppression of evidence-based narratives
- artificial intelligence information errors, bias or corruption
- crypto and meme asset trading, based on disinformation or to facilitate laundering
- psychological addiction or radicalisation inspired by artificially created or algorithmically amplified disinformation
Disinformation occurs when actors intentionally disseminate misleading narratives through selected dissemination channels to fulfill financial, power, physical or social-psychological incentives to exploit targeted audiences.
Systemic risk is defined as the potential for major or whole-system failure due to interconnected, cascading or spill-over effects from threats or events. In financial contexts, it, like systematic risk, cannot be mitigated through diversification.
Papers will be selected by the scientific committee to be invited for presentation at the events in Cambridge UK.
Priority will be given to newer working papers that can both inform and be informed by the Summit’s interdisciplinary audience.
For more information, reference the Summit website or email CFRA@jbs.cam.ac.uk.
The 2026 Cambridge Disinformation Summit is hosted by: the Cambridge Centre for Financial Reporting and Accountability, the Minderoo Centre for Technology & Democracy, the Cambridge Psychometrics Centre, and the University of Cambridge Social Decision-Making Lab
