In a statement last week, UN Secretary-General António Guterres highlighted some of the key recommendations from the 41-page United Nations Global Principles For Information Integrity report.
At a time when billions of people are exposed to false narratives, distortions and lies, these principles lay out a clear path forward, firmly rooted in human rights, including the rights to freedom of expression and opinion.
The spread of hatred and lies online is causing grave harm to our world.
No one should be at the mercy of an algorithm they don’t control, which was not designed to safeguard their interests, and which tracks their behavior to collect personal data and keep them hooked.
Guterres stated, adding that ‘the UN’s own humanitarian and peacekeeping operations are at risk, as its personnel deal with a “tsunami of falsehoods” and “absurd conspiracy theories.”’
According to the report: “Efforts to exploit the information space to undermine climate action further highlight the urgency of the challenge. Coordinated disinformation campaigns, often driven by commercial interests, seek to deny or sow doubt about the scientifically agreed basis for human-induced climate change, its causes or impacts, in order to delay or derail action to meet climate goals. Public figures—activists, scientists and broadcasters — have become targets of hate speech, threats and harassment for their efforts to provide information about and address the climate crisis.”
In order to combat these issues and more, the UN and a team of consultants developed five main tenets to hone in on: “societal trust and resilience; independent, free and pluralistic media; transparency and research; public empowerment; and healthy incentives.”
The UN vaguely encouraged “all stakeholders committed to acting in the public
interest can strive to adapt to the realities of a constantly evolving communications landscape by harnessing information spaces for common benefit.”
The UN went on to emphasize the importance of maintaining a “free press,” saying it “underpins the rule of law and serves as a cornerstone of democratic societies, enabling an informed civic discourse, holding power to account and protecting human rights.” But the UN bemoans that the corporate media machine is under duress:
“However, press freedom faces significant and sustained threats around the world despite the right to freedom of expression, including free, uncensored and unhindered press or other media. Media workers face online and offline harassment, threats and violence, leading at times to self-censorship and heightening professional risk,” the UN wrote.
“At the same time, the news industry has suffered from the migration of advertising revenue to the digital space, which is dominated by large technology companies. These factors have allowed corporate interests to further tighten their grip on media outlets, threatening media diversity and undermining local and public interest journalism. Where editorial standards are not robustly upheld, media outlets can drive and amplify risks to information integrity, which can cross-pollinate between online and offline spaces.
“Robust and urgent responses are needed to support public interest news organizations, journalists and media workers, acknowledging contexts with limited media infrastructure where citizen journalists provide a vital service for local constituents. Such responses can include robust and sustained media development assistance, utilizing local implementers.”
The UN also recommends that tech giants manipulate the flow of information and algorithms to prevent certain information from spreading.
Take measures to address content that violates platform community standards and undermines human rights, such as limiting algorithmic amplification, labelling and demonetization. Make publicly available disaggregated data on the implementation of content moderation policies and on resources allocated for content moderation across languages and contexts of operation.
The UN prescribes
The United Nations concluded by explaining what they specifically will be doing, which includes:
- Scale up efforts. Intensify efforts to strengthen information integrity, including through context-specific research, monitoring, risk assessment, community engagement and coalition building across diverse contexts and languages. Integrate information integrity into programmes and operations to enhance prevention, mitigation and response and identify emerging opportunities and challenges.
- Support capacity-building initiatives. Assist with capacity-building in States by offering skill development initiatives, including training for young people, to help strengthen information integrity, with particular attention to the needs of developing countries.
- Undertake advocacy. Promote and advocate for the Global Principles at the global level and across countries and communities, with particular attention to underserved contexts and groups in situations of vulnerability and marginalization. Actively contribute to social cohesion and strengthen resilience of communities to risks to information integrity, supporting efforts to realize the Sustainable Development Goals.
- Increase dedicated capacity. Establish a central unit in the United Nations Secretariat to develop innovative and nuanced approaches to addressing risks to the integrity of the information ecosystem affecting United Nations mandate delivery and substantive priorities, coordinating with other capacities and serving the whole United Nations system as required.
- Develop agile communications strategies. Harness innovative, evidence-based, agile and tailored communication strategies, utilizing digital and offline information spaces for the common good and to better meet the needs of all the people that the United Nations serves.
- Provide multilingual resources. Establish a multilingual online information integrity resource hub with shared research, guidance and best practices applicable to diverse contexts to support initiatives at the global, regional and national levels.
- Support multi-stakeholder action plans. Support regional and national multistakeholder action plans and coalitions, making use of existing mechanisms and calling on the Organization’s expertise and experience in international capacity-building and coordination.
Prior to the UN publishing this report, Guterres urged the world earlier this month to work towards eradicating “hate speech.”
AUTHOR COMMENTARY
I did not even bother to waste your time on the rest of the nonsense in the report: I’m sure you can use your imagination on what they said, and how women, minorities, and the LGTBQIA+ community is under duress especially, they say.
The whole thing was just more gaslighting nonsense, which is why I included the bit about maintaining a “free press.” I just chuckled at that.
So basically the sum of it is more of the same; more oppression, ‘the club’ gets a pass to say and do whatever, and our rights to free speech will be further diminished.
Proverbs 16:29 A violent man enticeth his neighbour, and leadeth him into the way that is not good. [30] He shutteth his eyes to devise froward things: moving his lips he bringeth evil to pass.
[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).
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“The spread of hatred and lies online is causing grave harm to our world.” CORRECT! And they are ALL coming from YOU, U.N.!
John 8:44
“Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”
Spot on BornAgain; there ain’t enough shovels to remove all the bull dung they are spreading