The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on Thursday stressed the urgent need for common global guidelines to improve the reliability of online information while protecting human rights.
This is one of the reflections of the Trusted Internet Conference, held from Tuesday to Thursday at the organization’s headquarters in Paris, and attended by 4,300 participants who discussed online possible regulatory measures for the current information crisis.
“The blurring of the lines between true and false, the orchestrated denial of scientific fact, the dissemination of misinformation and conspiracy theories—none of this originated with social media. But in the absence of regulation, they reproduce there much better than the truth‘ warned the Director General of UNESCO in her inaugural address.
Audrey Azoulay emphasized that “only by taking full control of this technological revolution we can ensure that human rights, freedom of expression and democracy are not sacrificed. For information to remain a common good, we must think and act together now.”
The conference represents the culmination of a global dialogue initiated by the UN agency to create the first global guidelines for regulating social networks to improve the reliability of information and promote human rights online.
“Without facts you can’t know the truth”
“Lies spread faster than facts. For some odd reason, facts are very boring. Lies hurt us, especially when accompanied by fear, anger, hate, tribalism. They spread. It’s like throwing a lit match into a fire,” said journalist Maria Ressa, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Ressa warned that if we continue to tolerate rewarding lies from social media algorithms, Future generations will inherit a world in which truth is dangerously devalued. “Without facts there is no truth, without truth there is no trust and we do not share a common reality.”
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva recalled the January 8 violent attacks on his country’s democratic institutions. “What happened that day was the culmination of a campaign that had begun long before, using lies and misinformation as ammunition.”
The Brazilian President added that “this campaign was conceived, organized and disseminated to a large extent through digital platforms and messaging applications. It is the same method used to generate acts of violence in other parts of the world. She must be stopped.”
Create a coordinated regulation based on human rights
Azoulay stressed that at least 55 countries are already working on regulatory initiatives, although he was committed to providing them with a coherent and global approach based on human rights.
“If these regulatory initiatives develop in isolation, With each country working in its own corner, they are doomed to fail. Information disruption is by definition a global issue, so our thinking needs to be global,” he said.
Icelandic Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir stressed the importance of “creating a common set of guidelines to regulate this digital space. Technology must not be misused to oppress, monitor or bully peopleOr turn off the internet.”
Youtuber Felipe Neto shared his experiences with extremist content distributed by algorithms.
“Of course we don’t want to close the platforms, we don’t want to fight them. It’s about accountability, ending impunity, putting them around the table and saying, ‘You have to be responsible for the mistakes you made and for what you’re going to commit,'” he said.
The Director-General of UNESCO called on all countries to join the organization’s efforts to transform the Internet into a tool that genuinely serves the public and helps to guarantee the right to freedom of expression; a right that includes the right to seek and obtain information.
All stakeholders attended the meeting: governments, independent regulators, digital companies, academia and civil society. UNESCO will present the guidelines in September 2023.