disinformation

On Tuesday, November, 2024, at 11:00-12:30 EST (16:00-17:30 UTC), the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information, as part of its Global Digital Governance series, presents a webinar ‘Disinformation, Information Integrity, and International Cooperation‘.

The explosive growth of online disinformation has elicited worldwide concern and calls for action over the past decade. Attention to its potential effects has been particularly acute in 2024 because of the US presidential election and the other national elections being held in over 70 countries with almost half of the world’s population. In recent years, policymakers and others have increasingly focused on the promotion of “information integrity” as a possible antidote to disinformation and related challenges. At the same time, some advocates for the freedom of expression have been highly critical of restrictive policy responses to disinformation. However, governments have cooperated to establish international norms and mechanisms in order to address the transnational nature of the perceived problem. For example, the European Union established a co-regulatory Code of Practice on Disinformation; thirty-two mostly industrialized countries endorsed a Global Declaration on Information Integrity Online; the Group of 20 released a ministerial statement noting the relevance of information integrity; and the UN General Assembly issued resolutions and reports on countering disinformation. In addition, the UN Secretary General proposed the establishment of a global Code of Conduct for Information Integrity on Digital Platforms and ultimately released a set of Global Principles for Information Integrity. Other UN and multilateral processes have addressed the issues in varying ways, and private sector and multistakeholder groupings also have pursued collaborative responses. Free speech organizations have also weighed in.

This webinar will delve into this issue nexus in two steps. First, we will consider whether and how online disinformation has evolved due to technological, economic and political change, and whether the promotion of “information integrity” provides a path toward an improved infosphere, or towards global restrictiveness. Second, we will explore whether international agreements can make a difference; their potential benefits and risks for human rights in a geopolitical landscape populated with illiberal regimes and movements; and the prospects for compliance with international norms by the disinformation creators and the distribution platforms.

This webinar will facilitate dialogue on these and related questions. A panel of leading experts on the topic will lead off, then the rest of the session will be devoted to open conversation among all interested attendees.

The session is simulcast live under the auspices of the Internet Society New York Chapter (ISOC-NY).

INTRODUCTION
Eli Noam, Director, Columbia Institute for Tele-Information, Columbia Business School.

PANEL
Guy Berger – Professor Emeritus of Journalism and Media Studies, Rhodes University / Distinguished Research Fellow, Research ICT Africa
Maria Paz Canales – Co-Head, Policy and Advocacy, Global Partners Digital
Jeanette Hofmann – Professor of Digital Policy, Freie Universität Berlin.

MODERATOR
William J. Drake, Director of International Studies, Columbia Institute for Tele-Information

LIVESTREAM http://livestream.com/internetsociety/citi-disinfo

PARTICIPATE VIA ZOOM https://bit.ly/3YGBIyn

REAL TIME TEXT https://bit.ly/3AOMI4Q

TWITTER #disinformation#informationintegrity @guyberger @MPaz_online @achdujeh @wjdrake @Elinoam @Columbia_Biz

#disinformation MASTODON  | BLUESKY  | INSTA 

#informationintegrity MASTODON  | BLUESKY  | INSTA 

SIMULCASTS
https://www.twitter.com/ISOC_Live/
https://www.twitch.tv/isoclive
https://www.facebook.com/liveisoc/ (AI Captions)

ARCHIVE
https://archive.org/details/citi-disinfo

IMAGES: CC BY OpenMoji / JoyPixels