Episode 162: Social Media, Misinformation, and the Risks to Elections in 2024 with Professor Leticia Bode

The International Risk Podcast

The International Risk Podcast is a weekly podcast for senior executives, board members, and risk advisors. In these podcasts, we speak with experts in a variety of fields to explore international risk. Our host is Dominic Bowen is Head of Strategic Advisory at one of Europe's leading risk management consulting firms. Dominic is a regular public and corporate event speaker, and visiting lecturer at several universities. Having spent the last 20 years successfully establishing large and complex operations in the world's highest-risk areas and conflict zones, Dominic now joins you to speak with exciting guests from around the world to discuss international risk.
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As we heard from Professor Stephan Lewandowsky, misinformation is a growing problem both in everyday life, and particularly in the political sphere. With more than 2 billion participating in democratic processes this year, it is indisputable that the risks of misinformation are higher than ever; and nowhere will this be more evident than in the upcoming US presidential elections. To discuss the risks of misinformation in the US elections, as well as its impacts on the United States more broadly, we are really pleased to welcome Professor Leticia Bode to the podcast today.

Professor Bode is an associate professor in the Communication, Culture, and Technology master’s program at Georgetown University. She received her PhD in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, and her bachelor’s degree from Trinity University.

Her work lies at the intersection of communication, technology, and political behaviour, emphasizing the role communication and information technologies may play in the acquisition and use of political information. This covers a wide area, including projects looking at incidental exposure to political information on social media, effects of exposure to political comedy, use of social media by political elites, selective exposure and political engagement in new media, and the changing nature of political socialization given the modern media environment. Work on these subjects has appeared in Journal of Communication, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, New Media and Society, Mass Communication and Society, Journal of Information Technology and Politics, and Information, Communication, and Society, and other journals. She also sits on the editorial boards of Journal of Information Technology and Politics, and Social Media + Society.