Egerton Neto and Rodrigo Cruz
23 oct. 2025
Session summary
Across the globe, LGBTQI+ communities are increasingly being targeted by disinformation - false or misleading information spread deliberately to harm. Politicians and other powerful actors are using online platforms to push harmful narratives that paint LGBTQI+ people, especially trans people, as a threat to society, especially during electoral cycles. These attacks are rarely random they often follow clear patterns and are part of a broader strategy to divide communities, gain political support, and roll back our rights.
This session will unpack how identity-based disinformation operates, its origins, and its modes of dissemination. It will particularly emphasise how digital platforms contribute to this issue and how current regulations remain inadequate to address it. We’ll examine real-world examples from countries such as Brazil, Poland, and the UK, and explore how disinformation campaigns cross borders often utilising the same narratives, tactics, imagery, and social media and does not focus solely on the problem, it’s also about taking action. Participants will engage in a hands-on activity to decode disinformation posts and learn how to identify the signs of coordinated attacks. Together, we'll discuss how communities are pushing back: by telling our own stories, building cross-border solidarity, and demanding better protections from the tech community.
Biography
Egerton Neto is one of the leading voices on the intersection of technology and LGBTQI+ rights. He has contributed to expert hearings organized by the European Union on IBD targeting LGBTQI+ communities, which informed key EU reports on Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI). He has been featured at Project Syndicate, El Pas and NPR. He is the Head of Programs at the International Panel on the Information Environment (IPIE), and manages a team of scientists investigating key topics on technology and human rights. Email: egerton.neto@ipie.info
Rodrigo Cruz holds a PhD in Sociology (Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universidade Nova de Lisboa). In September 2025, he will start a post-doctoral research project at University College London (UCL) on the impact of regulating online disinformation on LGBTI+ rights, funded by the Marie Skodowska-Curie Actions programme (European Commission). He is a scientific collaborator at the Atelier Genre(s) et Sexualit(s) (Institute of the Universite Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and a collaborating researcher at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Social Sciences (CICS.NOVA) of Universidade Nova de Lisboa. Email: rodrigo@rodrigues.da.cru
