An expert panel of seasoned campaigners who have dealt with disinformation and falsehoods, our first live panel event sheds light on how campaigners can navigate the issues and counter conspiracy theories, lies and half-truths. The panel consisted of

• Dr Charles Kriel, who is co-Founder of Metrotone Media, co-Director of the documentary People You May Know, which follows his breakthrough Cambridge Analytica investigation while serving as Special Advisor to the UK parliament Select Committee on Disinformation and Fake News.A list of other target panellists is available on request.
• Tessa Kahn, who is the Director of Uplift UK, which supports efforts to create a rapid and fair transition away from oil and gas production in the UK. Mythbusting and debunking the industry’s increasing tendency towards misinformation has become a stock-in-trade for Tessa and her team.
• Chitra Karve, who is Chair of Action for Southern Africa was an Anti-Apartheid Movement staff member from 1986 to 1989. She helped organise the 1988 Nelson Mandela: Freedom at 70 campaign.
• Nathan Oswin, who leads the Trade Union Congress's involvement in the Covid Public Inquiry and was previously Campaigns Director of the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice campaign. Through these roles, he has dealt with large-scale and sometimes harmful types of disinformation and mistruths

The event was sponsored by 38 Degrees and University of Westminster Media and Communications School. It was also supported by the Sheila McKechnie Foundation and the Advocacy Hub.

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Dr. Kush Kanodia is a multi-award-winning campaigner on disability rights and is Sheila Mackechnie Foundation’s Campaigner of the year. His own disability has fuelled his lifelong commitment to social justice. He shifted from a successful investment banking career to focus on disability rights.

In this episode, we discuss three successful disability rights campaigns which he has played a leading role in. One of these targeted the Premier League and the number of wheelchair-accessible spaces in stadiums which didn’t accurately reflect the needs of disabled fans, a second was on parking charges for disabled people at NHS hospitals and a third was on the London Ultra Low Emissions Zone.

find him at https://kushkanodia.com/

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The Deutsche Wohnen & Co. Enteignen movement wants the city of Berlin to transfer real estate into public ownership, expropriating the city’s large corporate landlords: those who have more than 3,000 units (an estimated 11% of the city’s housing stock). Launched in 2018 but dating back to 2010, the initiative focused on increasing rents and poor-quality housing in a city where 85% of people live in rented accommodation.

Campaigners uncovered a mechanism under the constitution to hold referenda. 7% of those eligible to vote were needed to sign a petition and some 171,000 signatures were collected. A referendum was held in 2021, with the campaign winning 59.1% of the vote, gaining over a million votes. Campaigners are now planning a new, binding referendum.

One prominent activist within the movement is Polish-born Joanna Kusiak, who the guest in this episode. Joanna lives in Berlin and works at the University of Cambridge where her work focuses on urban land, housing crises, and the progressive potential of law. In 2021 she was one of the spokespeople of Deutsche Wohnen & Co. enteignen. Joanna describes both the campaign and some of the tactics and strategies it employed, with the legal-constitutional strategy at the heart of the effort.

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