Description:
The creation, dissemination and accumulation of information is one dimension of structural power. The vast majority of conflicts today are not fought by nation states and their armies; increasingly, they are fought not with conventional weapons but with words. A specific sort of weaponry—“fake news” and viral disinformation online—has been at the center of policy discussions, public debates, and academic analyses in recent years (Horowitz, 2019). Technology, including digital platforms, that enable connections and participation can be used for misinformation and fake news. In addition, what has been called the “emerging information arms race” (Posetti& Matthews, 2018, July 23) is plaguing mature and emerging democracies alike (Horowitz, 2019). A variety of approaches have adopted in different regions/nations, to fight misinformation and fake news: from content intervention (fact-checking and filtering), technical intervention (dedicated anti-rumor platforms, algorithm) economic intervention (undermining advertising sources), legal intervention (civil and criminal penalties ) etc. Different stakeholders including state actors, NGOs, platforms, news media are involved. However, it is important to determine,
How effective are those approaches? What are the shared policy principles, norms and mechanisms across regions and nations?
What are the responsibilities of actors such as Internet platforms and government regulators?
What roles do technology (e.g. Algorithm and bots) and others play in the process?
What are the best practices in light of freedom of speech and the necessary neutrality and legal certainty for platforms?
How can we restore and uphold the trust of the public to the Internet platforms, news media and politics? How can we hold the actors accountable for their interventions?
In this session, speakers from different regions/nations including UK, Finland, China, India, Africa, Middle East and Latin America will discuss the above questions from diverse geographic and stakeholder’s perspectives.
Government Sector
Mr.Micheal Ilishebo, Law Enforcement Officer, Zambia Police Service, Africa.
Private Sector
Mr. Shu Wang, Deputy Editor, Sina Weibo, China
Civil Society Sector
Professor. Yongjiang Xie, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications
Dr. Minna Horowitz, Docent professorship at the University of Helsinki; Expert, Digital Rights and Advocacy, Central European University, Center for Media, Data, and Society
Mr. Arthur Gwagwa, Centre for Intellectual Property and ICT Law: Strathmore Law School, Kenya, Africa
Ms. Amrita Choudhury, CCAOI, India
Technical Sector
Dr. Ansgar Koene, Chair of IEEE P7003 Standard for Algorithmic Bias Considerations working group; Senior Research Fellow, University of Nottingham, HORIZON Digital Economy
Dr. Walid AI-Saqaf, Senior Lecturer at Södertörn University, Stockholm & member Internet Society Board of Trustees
Expected Outcomes:
1) Facilitate the debate as well as shaping the evolution of norms, principles, best practices of online disinformation and fake news refutation and model of Internet governance.
2) Identify differing viewpoints regarding Internet governance approaches regarding AI to help the creation of an environment in which all stakeholders are able to prosper and thrive
3) Policy recommendations and key messages report to the IGF community
4) A collaboration amongst speakers who are from different stakeholder sectors, in fake news and disinformation refutation and researches.