Session
Organizer 1: Marjorie Buchser, Chatham House
Organizer 2: Harriet Moynihan, Chatham House
Organizer 3: Chanu Peiris, Chatham Housee
Speaker 1: Amber Heffernan, Private Sector, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 2: Marjorie Buchser, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 3: Kate Jones, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Marjorie Buchser, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Harriet Moynihan, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Chanu Peiris, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Round Table - Circle - 60 Min
What are the technological and political remedies to the information crisis which do not compromise human rights including freedom of expression and privacy? What are the new coalitions needed to coordinate international and regional responses to the crisis and improve the health of our information spaces? How can we increase the resilience of national and global information ecosystems in the long term?
What are the technological and political remedies to the information crisis which do not compromise human rights including freedom of expression and privacy? What are the new coalitions needed to coordinate international and regional responses to the crisis and improve the health of our information spaces? How can we increase the resilience of national and global information ecosystems in the long term?
GOAL 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
GOAL 17: Partnerships for the Goals
Description:
The 2020 global health crisis has further highlighted and accelerated the underlying information crisis. The “infodemic”, described as an over-abundance of information – some accurate and some not – has made it difficult for individuals across the world to find trustworthy sources of information and reliable guidance. It has also increased the risks of manipulation and weakened individuals’ ability to make informed, autonomous choices. This infodemic has occurred against the backdrop of a proliferation of regulation, legislation and non-regulatory initiatives to tackle disinformation taking place in both authoritarian and democratic countries. In recent years, European nations such as France and Germany have enacted new legislations to mitigate specific aspects of the crisis from election misinformation to hate speech. In other parts of the world such as Hungary, Singapore or Brazil, governmental efforts have also raised questions about infringing free speech guarantees. Meanwhile, digital platforms have launched a number of initiatives and joint statements in a commitment to fight misinformation online. Yet, it remains unclear which of these efforts will prove most effective and whether they sufficiently address the root causes of the current information crisis.
This panel will draw on Chatham House long standing research on disinformation and the impact of digital technology on democratic processes. It will also inform Chatham House interdisciplinary work on strong institutions and critical infrastructures and will help develop ideas on preparation, adaptation, mitigation and resilience measures for cities and states. It will also help inform 2021 events such as in-country simulations (in Central Europe and Asia) on election infrastructure resilience and responses to disinformation campaigns. Chatham House will produce a meeting summary at the end of the meeting and disseminate to its international network.
The event will follow chatham house expert roundtable format which is designed to ensure an optimal level of participation between speakers and participants. This includes short presentation (5 min) by a range of stakeholders followed by a Q&A and open discussion with participants. Chatham House moderator will liaise with each speaker before the event as well as selected participants to review topic angles, discuss the session flow and identify relevant questions to guarantee a balanced and dynamic discussion.
Relevance to Internet Governance: The objectives of this event is to provide trusted evidence and increase the IGF community's understanding of effective (technological or legislative) measures to improve the information space resilience. It will also aims at fostering greater collaboration between international stakeholders in addressing the information crisis. It will also help policymakers identify whether to regulate disinformation, as well as platforms trying to address it. This is particularly relevant in the COVID context which has brought these issues to the forefront of policy debates.
Relevance to Theme: The event will provide the opportunities to discuss best practices (policy and technology solutions) for protecting information ecosystems, along with the appropriate roles and responsibilities of governments and technology companies.
Usage of IGF Official Tool.