Ruurd Oosterwoud

Ruurd Oosterwoud (1989) is the founder of DROG, an organisation that researches how to combat fake news and disinformation. DROG uses a playful approach to their campaigns, which turns out to be an effective way to achieve awareness.

For one of their campaigns DROG developed the serious game ‘Bad News’, in which players are challenged to develop and spread fake news. Together with the University of Cambridge, DROG researches the effectiveness of this unconventional approach, based on inoculation theory.

Ruurd has an MA in Russian and Eurasian Studies. He was the first student to specialize in Russian disinformation at Leiden University. Still in University he set up recommendations for the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs on fake news, based on his research.