A flawed business model
Social media and other digital platforms have enabled people around the world to communicate, share information and transform their societies. But increasingly, these platforms are also breeding grounds for misinformation, hate speech, and conspiracy theories. In recent years, the issue of content control and moderation has been a major factor behind violence, riots, rigged elections and democratic transitions of power in many countries.
Studies show that user engagement is often prioritized at all costs. This results in algorithms favoring the most controversial content because it elicits more responses, despite evidence that such content can damage the fabric of our societies, breed mistrust, fuel extremism and undermine basic human rights. There appear to be major imbalances between regions and languages, and moderation resources are sometimes allocated due to financial or political interests, or belatedly, in response to public outrage after violence or electoral interference has already occurred.
A global problem that requires global policies
Many countries are pushing regulation to respond to these problems, but so far it has been uncoordinated and fragmented, with some countries clearly at odds with international standards on free speech. Given the global dominance of a limited number of actors, the need for a coherent global approach has never been more urgent.
As the United Nations agency responsible for communication and information issues, UNESCO is leading global consultations on this topic involving governments, regulators, digital companies, academia, civil society and United Nations agencies. This global dialogue will culminate on February 21-23, 2023 in what is believed to be the first global conference specifically focused on regulatory guidance for digital platforms. Thousands of representatives of these groups have already registered to participate.
UNESCO experts will then incorporate the feedback received during these discussions and conduct further rounds of consultations with the aim of finalizing and publishing the first global guidelines on this topic by mid-2023, which governments, regulators, digital companies and other groups to implement guidelines on and tools as needed, with the expertise and support of UNESCO, ensuring they are consistent with international human rights standards.
This UNESCO initiative responds to the call by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres in Our Common Agenda to confront the spread of misinformation and the denial of scientific facts that pose “an existential risk to humanity”. .
Order of UNESCO
UNESCO has the worldwide mandate enshrined in its constitution to promote freedom of expression in words and pictures. He leads the UN action to promote freedom of expression and access to information. This includes a decades-long history of providing guidance and encouraging collaboration between broadcasting regulators and press councils, including promoting international standards.
The Windhoek+30 Declaration on Information as a Public Good in the Digital Age, endorsed by UNESCO’s 193 member states in 2021, calls for more transparency from technology companies, support for the long-term viability of communication media, and media and information literacy from citizens everywhere.
Led by its Director-General Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO is working specifically to improve the transparency of digital platforms, including through the development of a set of principles for transparency and accountability in the digital age. UNESCO also established the first global standard on the ethics of artificial intelligence, which was unanimously adopted by its member states in 2021, which includes a specific call for “appropriate frameworks, including regulations” to address these issues.