ALFM C9: Countering Digital Disinformation while upholding Freedom of Expression
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Session 362
WSIS Action Lines implementation may increasingly depend upon effective solutions to the massive online 'disinfodemic' and the need for effective responses that uphold freedom of expression and strengthen media & information literacy and public trust in science and facts.
In June 2020, more than 130 United Nations member countries and official observers called on all States to take steps to counter the spread of disinformation, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic (UN Africa Renewal, 2020). They underlined that these responses should:
Be based on:
· Freedom of expression,
· Freedom of the press and promotion of highest ethics and standards of the press,
· The protection of journalists and other media workers,
And promote:
· Media and Information Literacy (MIL).
· Public trust in science, facts, independent media, state and international institutions.
A report commissioned by UNESCO on behalf of the ITU/UNESCO Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development, entitled Balancing Act: Responding to Disinformation While Defending Freedom of Expression attempts to make holistic sense of the disinformation crisis on an international scale. The report includes a 23-step tool to assess a novel typology of 11 types of disinformation responses, including the impact on freedom of expression. The report, endorsed by the Broadband Commission, also makes recommendations for actions by individual states, political parties and actors, electoral regulatory bodies, law enforcement and judiciary, news media, civil society and intergovernmental organizations, researchers, as well as Internet communications companies.
This WSIS session will address challenges facing some of these key actors in mitigating the 'disinfodemic' and perspectives on how stakeholder responses can sustain freedom of expression and reinforce trust in science and facts. The WSIS session also is organized to help highlight the 30th anniversary of the 1991 Windhoek Declaration for the Development of a Free, Independent and Pluralistic Press.
Guy Berger is Director of Strategies and Policies in the field of Communication and Information at UNESCO. He is responsible for the Organization's global work on press freedom, safety of journalists, Internet freedom, media pluralism and independence, gender equality in the media, training in media and information, media education and journalistic education. Prior to joining UNESCO, he headed the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa. He has also worked in print and television and published a column on The Mail & Guardian website.
Dr Yemisi Akinbobola is an award-winning journalist, academic, consultant and co-founder of African Women in Media (AWiM). AWiM’s vision is that one-day African women will have equal access to representation in media. Yemisi hosts AWiM’s podcast, Her Media Diary. Joint winner of the CNN African Journalist Award 2016 (Sports Reporting), Yemisi ran her news website IQ4News between 2010-14. Her media work is African focused, covering stories from rape culture in Nigeria, to an investigative and data story on the trafficking of young West African football hopefuls by fake agents.
The WHO's Department of Global Infectious Hazard Preparedness (GIH) advances global efforts to prevent and control existing and emerging infectious diseases by increasing access to evidence-based interventions; fostering impactful innovation; and leveraging technical, operational, and strategic partnerships. Since 2001, Dr Briand has been actively involved in the detection, preparedness, and response to global threats, leading the scientific and strategic component of the WHO response (COVID 19, avian and pandemic influenza, Ebola, Zika, Plague, yellow fever, cholera, MERS.). Before joining WHO, Dr. Briand worked as public health project director for different global health agencies in various geographic regions (South America, Africa.)
Ritu Kapur is an Indian media entrepreneur. She is the CEO of Quintillion Media which jointly owns BloombergQuint with Bloomberg LP. She is co-founder of the Quint, a web-based digital news site and was one of the founding members of Nework18 in 1992. Ritu is a board member at Reuters Institute of Journalism, Oxford University. She is also an advisory board member at the British Council for their Future News Worldwide partnership program and a board member of the World Editor's Forum. In 2018, she was ranked the 49th most powerful woman on Fortunes list of Most Powerful Women in India.
Julie Posetti is an award winning journalist and academic. She leads a major UNESCO-Commissioned global study into online violence against women journalists, and the Journalism and the Pandemic Project (in collaboration with the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University). And she is co-author of two UNESCO books on disinformation, journalism and freedom of expression issues, including Balancing Act: Countering Disinformation While Defending Freedom of Expression. Dr. Posetti is academically affiliated with the Centre for Freedom of the Media at the University of Sheffield, and University of Oxford's Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.
Maria Ressa is co-founder, Executive Editor and CEO of Rappler, the top digital only news site that is leading the fight for press freedom in the Philippines. For her courage and work on disinformation and ‘fake news,’ Maria was named Time Magazine’s 2018 Person of the Year, was among its 100 Most Influential People of 2019, and has been named one of Time’s Most Influential Women of the Century. She was also part of BBC’s 100 most inspiring and influential women of 2019 and Prospect magazine’s world’s top 50 thinkers.
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C1. The role of governments and all stakeholders in the promotion of ICTs for development
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C3. Access to information and knowledge
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C5. Building confidence and security in use of ICTs
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C9. Media
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C10. Ethical dimensions of the Information Society
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C11. International and regional cooperation
The session addresses the challenge of the massive online 'disinfodemic' and the need for effective responses that uphold freedom of expression and strengthen media & information literacy and public trust in science and facts.
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Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all
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Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
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Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
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Goal 16: Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies
Disinformation is disempowering by impeding trust in science, facts, independent media, state and international institutions and the right to access accurate and reliable information, including related to education, health and safety, gender equality and peace.
