Dr Subhajit Basu delivers keynote lecture at the International Conference on Current Trends in Higher Education in India

Dr Basu delivers the Keynote lecture on ‘Disinformation and Democracy: the age of “alt-truth”?’

Dr Subhajit Basu was an invited speaker at the International Conference on Current Trends in Higher Education in India organised by Adamas University in collaboration with Government of West Bengal.

The International Conference was attended by academics from over 20 countries along with the Minister of Higher Education, Members of Parliament, representatives from the West Bengal government and the media.

He spoke about fake news and its effect on Indian democracy, particularly its effect on the forthcoming General election in India. Based on his research in this area he argued that relentless targeting of hyper-partisan views, play to the fears and prejudices of people, to influence their voting plans and their behaviour pose a greater threat to democracy (sharing of news without verification).

He argued that if there is anything we have learned in the last year, it is that our regulatory framework is completely inadequate to cope with a ‘disinformation’ campaign.

Dr Basu highlighted how our policies have been focused on protecting computer systems and their data, not on protecting people's minds from the rampant misinformation planted on the networks relied upon by countless users.

Hence, the question he asks is whether ‘disinformation’ is a threat to our liberal thinking? How can we maintain core values of freedom of speech and the free flow of information while protecting ourselves from malicious geopolitical actors? 

Dr Basu also gave a lecture on ‘Internet of Everything’: the inevitable end of Privacy? to the students of Adamas University.

This lecture provided an analysis of the technological complexities of ‘virtual assistants’, such as ‘Amazon’s Alexa’ and associated services, and he argued that the benefits of using Amazon’s Alexa demand that we find long-term solutions to the inherent privacy challenges. Dr Basu has been involved with funded research projects on Cloud crimes and AI

Dr Basu was felicitated by the Vice-Chancellor of the Adamas University for his work in the field of Information and Technology Law.