Social Media: The New Court of Public opinion (exploring the effects of social media and out unconscious bias)

Social Media: The New Court of Public Opinion

 The court of public opinion refers to using the news media to influence public support for one side or the other in a court case. The new court of public opinion is not just the news media, but all social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, etc). Even taking the last election into consideration, we can see how much the media can influence the public. Let’s explore how we get to select our Social Media community and curate our own news feeds, usually filled with those with similar outlooks. Does this just encourage and solidify our personal views?

 As open-source intelligence (OSINT) becomes a necessary input into our cyber operations, are we being responsible with our assumptions? During the talk, I will present various current events and images, explore the visceral reactions we have, and examine the judgements we make. Every day we see images in the media that provoke reactions, but do we know the full story before coming to those conclusions? It can easily be a case of he said/she said, but what is the truth and how do we know what to believe? How are our personal biases influencing our thoughts? Are we even aware that we have biases that we unconsciously impose on our decisions? This talk will provide the audience with the tools to develop the self-awareness and discernment we need to ensure we are not impress our own prejudices on, not only in the OSINT we research, but in our daily lives.