G7 countries want to take decisive action against Russian disinformation campaigns. “We will promote cooperation in tracing disinformation networks,” German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) announced on Friday in Eltville, near Wiesbaden, Hesse, after a meeting of G7 interior ministers. “We agreed to network more closely and adopt good ideas from other partners.”
For example, France reacts to the spread of untruths with fact-checking, which the state does not carry out alone but in conjunction with civil society, Faeser said. She referred to independent fact-checking platforms on the Internet.
The threat to critical infrastructure and the spread of disinformation and foreign propaganda has increased significantly since the start of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, the interior minister said. “Russia is trying to spread insecurities with lies, undermine trust in state institutions and divide our societies.” This is condemned in the strongest possible terms. “And we can say: (Russian President Vladimir) Putin will not succeed. We fight lies with facts.”
Social media platforms would also have to step up their efforts to tackle misinformation, hate and hate speech, Faeser said at the medieval monastery of Eberbach. “Together we will defend our democratic values, freedom of expression, freedom of information and freedom of the press.”
According to Faeser, the G7 countries also want to work more closely together to solve war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Russian troops in Ukraine – so that war criminals will one day have to face a court of law. According to Faeser, the Ministers of Justice of the G7 will also address the issue at their conference on November 28 and 29. The G7 community will continue to support and better coordinate police and law enforcement in Ukraine.
In her home state of Hesse, Faeser said that during Germany’s current G7 presidency, she has also focused on combating extremism and terrorism. Especially in the corona pandemic, there has been an increasingly radical spiral of hate and violence. Taking a preventive and repressive approach, the G7 group of states wants to further intensify their cooperation in the fight against this development.
Another topic at the meeting of G7 interior ministers was refugee policy. The new Italian government led by the far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni recently triggered a diplomatic dispute with France because it refused to allow the maritime rescue ship “Ocean Viking” with 234 migrants on board to enter an Italian port. “We were able to mediate well,” Faeser said. There was “good cooperation” between Italy and France at Eltville.
Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Canada, the United States and Great Britain belong to the G7 association of economically strong democracies. Germany will hold the presidency until the end of the year and Japan will assume the presidency in 2023. According to the Minister of the Interior of Germany, Nancy Faeser, the G7 countries want to intensify the fight against child abuse. “Today is the United Nations’ global day of action in the fight against the sexual exploitation and abuse of children,” Faeser said on Friday after a meeting with his G7 colleagues near Wiesbaden. The threat of sexual violence and human trafficking to children has increased enormously in recent years – especially online.
A particularly heinous form is the “live streaming” of acts of abuse. “More vicious crimes against children are hard to imagine,” Faeser emphasized. The perpetrators mainly acted transnationally. International cooperation in law enforcement is therefore critical. The German minister added that the G7 states agreed to intensify the fight against these crimes. “Tech companies, platform operators and the financial sector also have a clear duty to act here.”