Blog of Marie-Christine Gries, SI UN Representative at UNESCO, Paris.

UNESCO promotes the regulation of digital platforms.

To eliminate disinformation, and the various hates messages that multiply on social networks, UNESCO aims to find a global consensus on the regulation of digital communication. Based on the Universal Principles of Human Rights, it would be possible to design a regulation of content disseminated by platforms that would be accepted by political leaders, platform owners and users. Such consensual regulation should be exercised independently in accordance with the principles adopted. It is not a question of imposing rigid universal regulation but rather giving guidelines to the regulators persons or companies entrusted with this task.

UNESCO’s approach aims to promote the development of a trusted cyberspace, conducive to the achievement of the SDGs, by safeguarding freedom of expression and the right of access to information.

To launch the international reflection with the conference held from February 21 to 23, 2023, UNESCO published a draft document of the Principles of Regulation, the product of a multi-stakeholder consultation initiated in September 2022. A final document should be finalised in a few months (September 2023)  after the new consultations and after the conference.

Why regulating? A grassroots inventory

Internet social networks have grown exponentially in just a few years. However, as the Director General of UNESCO mentioned in her speech at the opening of the conference, this rapid multiplication of new spaces of expression has been generated by technological development with a single commercial objective. The developers did not seek to assess the societal impact of this new public space in order to anticipate and prevent possible harmful uses. The financial valuation of the platforms results solely from their frequentation. The contents are evaluated only on their impact of popularity.

On digital networks, we see the proliferation of various forms of aggression, harassment, the spread of false information, attempts to manipulate public opinion, particularly in the field of democratic elections. In most cases, the form of the information (true or false) is concise in order to reach as many people as possible. It does not call for a debate, does not arouse dialogue and reflection but aims to give a shock that will be propagated( “buzz”). Overall, digital platforms have been designed to fit into a universe of entertainment where emotion is a priority. The distribution of messages to subscribed Internet users is based on targeting algorithms on data collected on online consultation habits, a system operating on a set of concepts that are often unfortunately stereotyped and gendered. This sorting creates partitions between groups of internet users. This compartmentalisation reinforces their convictions, for lack of contradictory messages and facilitates the creation of closed networks around influencers, which can contribute to radicalisation, particularly political.

Existing regulation

In many countries, laws have been settled to give victims of misinformation rights to reply, to have posts removed and to bring legal action against online abusers. These laws are not easily applied to the benefit of complainants and are not suitable for all cases. Sometimes law can be reduced to a tool used by governments manipulating their public opinion. Prevention is very underdeveloped, despite the timid presence of moderators on some platforms. Independent organisations have difficult access to platform managers who defend their own conception of freedom of expression. Reconciling freedom of expression with the principles of human rights is a real challenge: it is not a problem specific to the internet. The dilemma is resolved for any form of communication in countries where authoritarian rulers respect neither.

What should be built?

The provisional document posits information as a universal public good, justifying the sharing of global principles.

Mr. T. Jelassi, Deputy Director General of UNESCO, Communication Sector, framed the issue:

• Independence of regulation guided by the Principles
• Responsibility of the platforms for the content broadcast
• Education of users on digital spaces and digital citizenship,
• Implementation of public policies for the digital space
• Accountability

 

During the conference around the round tables, the qualified speakers, journalists, teachers, young internet users, political leaders, digital media specialists, scientists, and platform managers, spoke about the difficulties for the recognition of universal principles by all the stakeholders. Their remarks were relayed by comments from the public going in the same direction: doubt about the possibility of transforming the internet, risks of misappropriation of the principles into rules of censorship, respect for the sovereignty of states in their national communication policies, taking into account cultural diversity in the expression of messages, semantic and linguistic issues and finally problems related to the technical means available in the least advanced countries in digital technology, and the cost of a national regulatory mechanism whose implementation would not be accessible to all countries.

Education: the key point  

Education is an essential parameter in the success of this refoundation of the internet. This is the most consensual point of the questions raised. Education in the digital world is not only essential on a technical level, but also requires to be approached in the context of civic and private life, with respect for human rights. Digital citizenship education is an important investment that must be made quickly in formal and informal education. It is an emergency when most children who have access to digital think that they are very well trained by their spontaneous learning in the manipulation of their devices. In digital school learning, to destabilise disinformation and rebuild a healthy and reliable Internet, it is essential to develop in young people a critical mind to evaluate the messages they receive and those they send and share in cyberspace.

Rebuilding the internet on fundamental principles in harmony with human rights and the SDGs will not be a quick project to complete. The complexity of the issues and problems to be resolved, the diversity of political conceptions, the obvious reluctance of operators towards what would limit their autonomy, the acquisition of knowledge by users, require patience. However, the subject is on the table, the fundamental questions are being asked.