UNESCO chief urges tougher regulation of social media

PARIS –

The United Nations’ instructional, scientific and cultural company chief on Wednesday referred to as for a worldwide dialogue to seek out methods to manage social media corporations and restrict their function within the spreading of misinformation all over the world.

Audery Azoulay, the director common of UNESCO, addressed a gathering of lawmakers, journalists and civil societies from all over the world to debate methods to manage social media platforms resembling Twitter and others to assist make the web a safer, fact-based house.

The two-day convention goals to formulate tips that may assist regulators, governments and companies handle content material that undermines democracy and human rights, whereas supporting freedom of expression and selling entry to correct and dependable data.

The international dialogue ought to present the authorized instruments and rules of accountability and accountability for social media corporations to contribute to the “public good,” Azoulay mentioned in an interview with The Associated Press on the sidelines of the convention within the French capital. She added: “It would limit the risks that we see today, that we live today, disinformation (and) conspiracy theories spreading faster than the truth.”

The European Union final yr handed landmark laws that can compel massive tech corporations like Google and Facebook father or mother Meta to police their platforms extra strictly to guard European customers from hate speech, disinformation and dangerous content material.

The Digital Services Act is considered one of EU’s three important legal guidelines focusing on the tech business.