Recording: Dark Money & Disinformation: The Battle for Electoral Integrity

As the UK prepares for its upcoming local and mayoral elections, ensuring the integrity of the electoral process is more important than ever. The Centre for Finance and Security (CFS) at the Royal United Services Institute, in collaboration with Democratys, is hosting a timely panel discussion on the key challenges facing electoral integrity. 

This event is hosted in partnership with the Democratys Foundation, a charity committed to increasing public understanding of democracy through educational events, investigative media and engaging digital content. 

Democratys funds Ctrl Alt Deceit: Democracy in Danger, a podcast uncovering the forces – foreign and domestic – threatening democratic institutions and delivers live discussions, research-driven insights and accessible resources to equip people with the knowledge to defend democracy. 

This event brought together experts, policymakers, and practitioners to examine the growing risks posed by disinformation, dark money, big tech and foreign interference. Panellists will explore how these threats undermine public trust in political institutions and discuss strategies for strengthening democratic resilience.

Co-Moderators 

• Owen Bennett-Jones, BBC journalist and co-host of the Democratys podcast ‘Ctrl Alt Deceit: Democracy in Danger’
• Nina Dos Santos, former CNN anchor and co-host of the Democratys podcast ‘Ctrl Alt Deceit: Democracy in Danger’  

Panellists 

• Tom Keatinge, Director, Centre for Finance and Security, RUSI
• Darren Hughes, Chief Executive, Electoral Reform Society
• Gina Neff, Executive Director, Minderoo Centre for Technology & Democracy at the University of Cambridge and Professor of Responsible AI, Queen Mary University London