Move Fast and Fix Things

Disinformation, misinformation and malign influence (DMMI) have evolved rapidly over the last decades as the way we use media and technology has changed dramatically. New information environments have enabled malevolent actors to spread disinformation and sow discord in ways previously hard to imagine. The impact of disinformation on cognition, attitudes, public opinion and behaviour is a subject of active academic research and debate in the Five Eyes nations and internationally. However, it is clear that DMMI, especially but not only initiated by foreign actors, is a major threat to our open, democratic way of life. This chapter presents a pedagogical case study in rapidly and iteratively developing academically rigorous yet professionally oriented training for assessing, managing and countering disinformation and malicious influence. This training was developed by the University of Melbourne's Hunt Laboratory for Intelligence Research and is currently delivered to a number of Australian Commonwealth government organisations with intelligence functions.