TechDigits

Tech news
Thursday, Mar 23, 2023

Online Manipulation, Hate Must Stop: UN Conference

Online Manipulation, Hate Must Stop: UN Conference

Hundreds of officials, tech firm representatives, academics and members of civil society were invited to the two-day meeting hosted by the UN's cultural fund to brainstorm how to best vet content while upholding human rights.
Digital platforms have changed how we interact, and urgent action is needed to stop the manipulation of users and hate speech, a UN conference in Paris heard today.

Hundreds of officials, tech firm representatives, academics and members of civil society were invited to the two-day meeting hosted by the UN's cultural fund to brainstorm how to best vet content while upholding human rights.

"Digital platforms have changed the way we connect and face the world, the way we face each other," UNESCO director general Audrey Azoulay said in opening remarks.

But "only by fully evaluating this technological revolution can we ensure it is a revolution that does not compromise human rights, freedom of expression and democracy."

Despite their benefits in communication and knowledge sharing, UNESCO has warned that social media platforms rely on algorithms that "often prioritise engagement over safety and human rights".

Azoulay said too few resources were assigned to educate users or moderate content, "which remains non-existent or questionable in most languages."

'A polluted river'

Filipina investigative journalist Maria Ressa, who jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for exposing abuses under former president Rodrigo Duterte, said social media had allowed lies to flourish.

"Our communication systems today are insidiously manipulating us," she told attendees.

"We focus only on content moderation. It's like there is a polluted river. We take a glass... we clean up the water and then dump it back" in, she said.

But "what we have to do is to go all the way to the factory polluting the river, shut it down and then resuscitate the river."

She said that, at the height of online campaigns against her for her work, she had received up to 98 hate messages an hour.

A little over half sought to undermine her credibility as a journalist, including false claims that she peddled "fake news", she said.

The rest were personal attacks targeting her gender, "skin colour and sexuality" -- or even "threats of rape and murder".

'This must stop'

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula earlier addressed the conference in a letter, pointing to how disgruntled supporters of his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro on January 8 invaded the presidential palace, Congress and the Supreme Court in Brasilia.

"What happened that day was the culmination of a campaign, initiated much before, and that used, as ammunition, lies and disinformation," he said.

"To a large extent, this campaign was nurtured, organised, and disseminated through several digital platforms and messaging apps," he added.

"This must stop. The international community needs, from now on, to work to give effective answers to this challenging question of our times."

Facebook whistleblower Christopher Wylie was also to contribute to the discussions.

The data scientist has revealed how he helped Cambridge Analytica, founded by ex-US president Donald Trump's former right-hand man Steve Bannon, to use unauthorised personal data harvested from Facebook to help swing a string of elections, including Trump's US presidential win in 2016.

"Many countries around the world have issued or are currently considering national legislation to address the spread of harmful content," UNESCO said in a statement ahead of the conference.

But "some of this legislation risks infringing the human rights of their populations, particularly the right to freedom of expression and opinion", it warned.

As a result of the conference, UNESCO aims to draw up global guidelines to fight disinformation and hate speech for governments, regulatory bodies and digital companies by mid-2023.
Newsletter

Related Articles

TechDigits
Close
0:00
0:00
Donald Trump arrested – Twitter goes wild with doctored pictures
Credit Suisse's Scandalous History Resulted in an Obvious Collapse - It's time for regulators who fail to do their job to be held accountable and serve as an example by being behind bars.
Russian Hackers Preparing New Cyber Assault Against Ukraine
A brief banking situation report
Elon Musk Is Planning To Build A Town In Texas For His Employees
The Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse effect is spreading around the world, affecting startup companies across the globe
Market Chaos as USDC Loses Peg to USD after $3.3 Billion Reserves Held by Silicon Valley Bank Closed.
Banking regulators close SVB, the largest bank failure since the financial crisis
In a major snub to Downing Street's Silicon Valley dreams, UK chip giant Arm has dealt a serious blow to the government's economic strategy by opting for a US listing
It's the question on everyone's lips: could a four-day workweek be the future of employment?
Corruption and Influence Buying Uncovered in International Mainstream Media: Investigation Reveals Growing Disinformation Mercenaries
Being a Tiktoker might be expensive…
China's top tech firms, including Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, NetEase, and JD.com, are developing their own versions of Open AI's AI-powered chatbot, ChatGPT
This shocking picture, showing how terrible is the results of the earthquake in Turkey
The desk of King Carlos Alberto of Sardinia has many secret compartments
Charlie Munger, calls for a ban on cryptocurrencies in the US, following China's lead
First generation unopened iPhone set to fetch more than $50,000 at auction.
Almost 30% of professionals say they've tried ChatGPT at work
Interpol seeks woman who ran elaborate exam cheating scam in Singapore
What is ChatGPT?
Tesla reported record profits and record revenues for 2022
Microsoft is finalising plans to become the latest technology giant to reduce its workforce during a global economic slowdown
Tesla slashes prices globally by as much as 20 percent
After Failing To Pay Office Rent, Twitter May Sell User Names
FTX fraud investigators are digging deeper into Sam Bankman-Fried's inner circle – and reportedly have ex-engineer Nishad Singh in their sights
TikTok CEO Plans to Meet European Union Regulators
U.S. Moves to Seize Robinhood Shares, Silvergate Accounts Tied to FTX
Coinbase to Pay $100 Million in Settlement With New York Regulator
FTX assets worth $3.5bn held by Bahamas securities regulator
Former FTX CEO Bankman-Fried finally arrested in Bahamas after U.S. files charges
Corruption works: House Financial Services Chair Waters doesn't plan to subpoena her donor, Sam Bankman-Fried, to testify at hearing on FTX collapse
Yellen hints at ‘national security’ probe into Twitter purchase
Elon Musk reinstates Donald Trump's Twitter account.
George W. Bush and Barack Obama will hold back-to-back disinformation conferences
Solar + Powerwall ensures you never lose power, even if the grid goes down
This man paid for strangers' grocery and it moved them to tears
Meta introduces a new version of Mark Zuckerberg
Virtual Reality on billboards: BMW advertisement on Times Square
Apple CEO Tim Cook says coding should be taught as early as elementary school: 'It's the most important language you can learn'
Apple Executive Resigns After Viral TikTok Shows Him Making Crude Jokes
Huawei is not only better technology, but also protecting users better: Apple Warns Of Security Flaw For Iphones, Ipads And Macs
Mark Zuckerberg warns many teams will ‘shrink’ as Meta revenue drops
Elon Musk reportedly begged for forgiveness after his affair with Google co-founder Sergey Brin's wife
J.P. Morgan’s wealth management guru has some advice for recent college graduates on managing money and building wealth
Pentagon widens scope of UFO-hunting unit
Bezos' girlfriend Lauren Sanchez gives $1M to group focused on migrant kids at US-Mexico border
Hong Kong gets its first metaverse churches with avatars and virtual preachers
The ‘Dirty Quid Pro Quo’ Between Democrats and Big Tech
Elon Musk swore in March not to sell any Bitcoin, but Tesla cashed out 75% of its Bitcoin holdings amid the crypto winter just months later
Crypto winter continues at Gemini as another round of layoffs hits Winklevoss crypto exchange
×