11 November 2025 from 09:00 CET
On-site at the Embassy of Canada to Germany, Berlin

Join our waitlist to attend in Berlin *
register to attend online

* There will be no livestream of DisinfoCon 2025. Those unable to attend in Berlin can still take part by joining the online webinar on 12 November.

12 November 2025 from 16:00 CET
Online: Moving beyond US tech dependence via Zoom

DisinfoCon is a forum for civil society, policymakers, journalists
and AI practitioners to meet, exchange and align on a values-based approach
and forward looking solutions that reinforce democracy in Europe’s digital landscape.

We will focus on emergent and often overlooked issues, including decentralised social media,
AI accountability, collective approaches to disinformation resilience
and Europe’s path beyond dependence on US tech.

DisinfoCon 2025 is organised by Democracy Reporting International
in collaboration with the Embassy of Canada to Germany and Alliance4Europe.

AGENDA

DAY 1

11 November 2025
Embassy of Canada to Germany, in Berlin
Leipziger Platz 17, 10117 Berlin, Germany

  • Time to meet up and enjoy a cup of coffee!

  • Welcome remarks from Evelyne Coulombe, Chargée d’Affaires, Embassy of Canada to Germany, Berlin 

    Michael Meyer-Resende, Executive Director, Democracy Reporting International

  • Jennifer Irish, Director of the Information Integrity Lab, University of Ottawa

  • Explore emerging platforms like Bluesky, Mastodon and its decentralization model fuelled by the AP and AT protocol. We’ll focus on understanding their content moderation and curation dynamics and how this may impact current governance models.

    Speakers:

    • Aaron Rodericks, Head of Trust and Safety, Bluesky

    • Sandra Barthel, Interdisciplinary Scientist and Political Advisor

    • Jaz-Michael King,Executive Director, IFTAS – Federated Trust and Safety

    Moderation by: Daniela Alvarado Rincón, Digital Democracy Policy Officer

  • Pause, coffee & snacks!

  • We will discuss the role of civil society in investigating, auditing, reporting on, and advocating against these risks. We will argue that watchdogs, researchers, and advocacy groups must step up as public-interest auditors of AI systems, evaluating how they perform in practice, cutting through the hype to expose real harms, as well as championing greater transparency and accountability. 

    Speakers:

    • Adriana Cuppuleri, Senior Researcher, AlgorithmWatch 

    • Benjamin Schultz, Lead Researcher, The American Sunlight Project 

    • Dr. Zhijing Jin, Assistant Professor at University of Toronto and currently Research Scientist, Max-Planck-Institute

    Moderated by: Duncan Allen, Digital Democracy Research Officer, Democracy Reporting International

  • Join us for lunch!

  • How can we build a whole-of-society approach to defending democracy from authoritarianism?

    In 2024 and 2025, we observed in Europe the onslaught of influence operations from authoritarian forces targeting our elections. Across the continent, different initiatives came together, mobilising to take action against information manipulation.

    This panel brings together members of organisations working on OSINT, fact-checking, journalism, and academia to discuss how we can build a collaborative system across civil society, media, academia, and government to tackle threats to our democracies.

    Speakers:

    • Lea Frühwirth, Senior Researcher Disinformation, CeMAS  

    • Timo Lenk,Researcher, TU Dortmund University 

    • Charles Terroille, Project and Investigative Research Officer, Science Feedback 

    • Max Bernhard, Journalist, Correctiv 

    Moderated by: Moderated by: Saman Nazari, Network Coordinator & Lead Researcher, Alliance4Europe

  • Michael Meyer-Resende, Executive Director, Democracy Reporting International

  • Informal networking session to continue the conversation until 17:00. Refreshments will be provided. 

Participation in Berlin is subject to availability and will be confirmed on a first-come, first-served basis.

Join the Waitlist

12 November 2025
Webinar: Moving Beyond US Tech Dependence:
Paths, Challenges, and Opportunities for European Digital Sovereignty

DAY 2

  • As Europe's dependence on US-based digital platforms deepens, critical questions emerge around geopolitical autonomy, innovation, and control of the information space. This panel will explore: 

    • How the EU can strategically reduce reliance on US technologies and platforms 

    • The vision and policy viability of the EuroStack proposal: A European tech infrastructure from chips to cloud 

    • The impact of laws like the CLOUD Act and GDPR on data governance 

    • The role of openness, digital commons, and civil society in building a democratic and sovereign digital future 

    Speakers:

    • Cristina Caffarra, Author of the EuroStack whitepaper 

    • Marc Faddoul, Director, AI Forensics 

    Moderation by: Ognjan Denkovski, Digital Democracy Research Coordinator 

Register here

SPEAKERS

  • Evelyne Coulombe

    Chargée d’Affaires, Embassy of Canada to Germany, Berlin 

  • Jennifer Irish

    Director of the Information Integrity Lab, University of Ottawa 

  • Michael Meyer-Ressende

    Executive Director, DRI

  • Sorina Matei

    Digital Democracy Programme Manager, DRI

  • Aaron Rodericks

    Head of Trust and Safety, Bluesky

  • Jaz-Michael King

    Executive Director, IFTAS – Federated Trust and Safety 

  • Sandra Barthel

    Interdisciplinary Scientist and Political Advisor

  • Daniela Alvarado Rincón

    Digital Democracy Policy Officer, DRI

  • Dr. Adriana Cuppuleri

    Senior Researcher, AlgorithmWatch 

  • Benjamin Shultz

    Lead Researcher, The American Sunlight Project 

  • Dr. Zhijing Jin

    Assistant Professor, University of Toronto &
    Research Scientist,
    Max-Planck-Institute

  • Duncan Allen

    Digital Democracy Research Officer, DRI

  • Lea Frühwirth

    Senior Researcher Disinformation, CeMAS  

  • Timo Lenk

    Researcher, TU Dortmund University 

  • Max Bernhard

    Journalist CORRECTIV.Faktencheck

  • Charles Terroille

    Project & Investigative Research Officer,
    Science Feedback

  • Saman Nazari

    Project Coordinator & Lead Researcher, Alliance4Europe

  • Cristina Caffarra

    Author of the EuroStack paper 

  • Marc Faddoul

    Director, AI Forensics  

  • Ognjan Denkovski

    Digital Democracy Research Coordinator, DRI