Disinformation has become one of the most powerful forces shaping modern society. In January 2026, a prominent group of researchers from institutions including Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Yale, and Berkeley published a warning in Science about a new escalation: malicious AI swarms — coordinated fleets of AI-controlled personas that autonomously infiltrate communities, fabricate consensus, and manipulate public opinion at unprecedented scale. These systems mimic human social dynamics so convincingly that they are increasingly difficult to distinguish from real people.
The technology already exists. Early forms of AI-powered influence operations have been observed in elections in Taiwan, India, and Indonesia. As heise online reports, the technological barrier is frighteningly low — powerful language models are freely accessible, and simulating human-like behavior at scale no longer requires sophisticated infrastructure.
Against this background, it is crucial to bring knowledge about disinformation out of the academic discussion and into reality. And what could be a better format than a festival — open, free, and near Berlin — that invites students, families, and the general public to engage directly with the people researching these threats?
The Fake News Festival
The Fake News Festival is an initiative of Europa-Universität Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder), organized by researchers and students at the university. Running from June 18 to 20, 2026, it brings together science, practice, and the public to explore how artificial intelligence is transforming the creation and spread of disinformation — and what we can do about it.
The festival is free, open to all, and designed to make complex topics accessible. Through talks, workshops, and collaborative formats, participants — whether students, researchers, journalists, or curious citizens — can get in touch with leading researchers, technologists, and practitioners and playfully explore disinformation, experience inoculation techniques live, and build real media literacy skills.
