IGF 2023 Lightning Talk #114 APAC Safer Internet Lab: progressing against misinformation

The Safer Internet Lab (SAIL) is a multi-stakeholder effort focusing on the study and exploration of solutions to address the problem of mis- and disinformation as it affects users, economies and societies in Indonesia, and in the wider Asia-Pacific region. The SAIL partnership was initiated by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and Google and aims to bring together the brightest minds from across stakeholder groups - think-tanks, universities, civil society organisations, governmental bodies and technology platforms - to discuss trends, policy best practices, learnings and to brainstorm sustainable solutions to address information disorder, also referred to as mis- and dis-information. The goal is to create discussions, collaborations and forums for the co-development of solutions that ultimately build a safer web for users in the region. The tutorial intends to provide a space for exchange, in order to share learnings from SAIL’s first few months, outline its future programme of research, and gather questions and input from participants on key areas of importance for study and action regarding mis- and dis-information in Asia-Pacific. Participants will get a better understanding of the Safer Internet Lab, and the work it does to augment understanding of misinformation as it affects users, societies and economies in Indonesia and the wider Asia-Pacific region. They will also hear about the areas of study coming up under the programme, and how stakeholders may be involved going forwards. Key policy questions raised would include: - What is the purpose of setting up a centre to study misinformation and how to counter it in Asia-Pacific ? - Why and how can a multi-stakeholder approach to countering mis-information be successful? - How can public policy approaches be enriched and effective thanks to multi-stakeholder input and involvement? Thanks to contributions by actors across the various layers of the Internet ecosystem, the tutorial will help to support effective policy environments to understand and counter mis- and dis-information, and encourage the development of multi-stakeholder initiatives to reach these goals.

The lightning talk / presentation will have an onsite moderator and an online moderator to facilitate the workshop. These moderators are responsible for moderating the onsite and online speakers and attendees. Both these moderators will ensure all speakers and participants, regardless of their modes of participation, will have opportunities and be encouraged to engage, raise questions and provide inputs at the workshop. The workshop will commence with speaker presentations, upon completion the facilitator will ask policy questions which will facilitate active discussions and exchange with the audience. In order to ensure both offline and online participants to actively engage in the discussions, the workshop will secure ample time (Q&A session will be 10-15 minutes+) to ask questions to the speakers and provide inputs to the discussion. Online participants will be actively encouraged to pose questions and make comments. The onsite and online moderator will summarize the findings and recommendations of the workshop and compile future actions.