Anyone who uses social media or even reads the newspapers will know how difficult it can be to separate fact from opinion and truth from fiction.
In the UK, we saw how an unrelated tragedy in Southport led to a summer of discontent as widely shared but untrue anti-migrant narratives inspired violent disorder across the country. We held a special session in Leeds on 17 October looking at how rumours and misunderstanding spread. The session brought together people from across Leeds to share their experience of the summer's events, how they were perceived locally, and the contrasts with how they were described online and in the media.
The event was run in partnership with LS14 Trust and Chapel FM. It was attended by over 20 people from the local community who wanted to listen and share their experiences about these very topical issues.
The event has been made possible thanks to funding from the Council of Europe's Inter-Cultural Cities (ICC) programme. ICC is supporting a project Leeds City Council is running in partnership with London Borough of Camden to run a series of community sessions to tackle misinformation and disinformation and improve understanding between different communities.
In addition to events such as these, Leeds has an extensive supporting programme of community engagement work, community safety initiatives, opportunities for dialogue, and partnerships with third sector partners. These are fundamental to the resilience and cohesion of the city's diverse communities.
Leeds and Camden will be running a series of similar sessions on different topics in the near future.
Opmerkingen