The United Nations (UN) Internet Governance Forum (IGF) convened in Saudi Arabia, and it is from there that the world heard the message about the need to collaborate more closely and globally, to usher in even more online censorship.
The event brought together government and private sector representatives, as well as those from international organizations, while the participants went for what’s at this point an expected mix of several talking points: (online) misinformation, algorithms, and AI, all peppered with alarmist and disturbing language about these technologies allegedly facilitating killings in the real world.
The one the speakers seem to believe can be “double-purpose” is AI, because they see potential for “enhancing” censorship (“combating misinformation”) by using this developing tech.
The Forum – “Navigating the misinformation maze: Strategic cooperation for a trusted digital future” – heard from the Director of the Saudi Data and AI Authority’s National Information Center Esam Alwagait, who blamed social media (as such) as being “the primary driver of false information” – and then “discovering” that algorithmic recommendations, which have been around for at least over a decade, amplify content.
But Alwagait was particularly concerned about “sensational” content. Meta Oversight Board member Khaled Mansour took things quite a few notches up when he raised the alarm that misinformation – which the event took for granted is now “a growing threat” worthy of their, and many other conferences – is “deadly.”
“Misinformation kills. By spreading misinformation in conflict times from Myanmar to Sudan to Syria, this can be murderous.”
This extraordinary take on what “kills” in these conflict zones – and giving misinformation such a prominent role as responsible – was brought a little closer to the underlying reason for the UN’s and other participants’ interest in using the concept of misinformation, by bringing in calls for more censorship.
“Unregulated online spaces” and the supposed danger they represent is what UN Counter-Terrorism Committee’s Natalia Gherman spoke about.
Some lip service was paid to preserving freedom of expression; after he was done talking about “murderous misinformation,” Massoud “cautioned against overreach, advocating for labeling content rather than outright removal,” said reports.
The Forum agreed on the need to collaborate on regulation, and rely more on “advanced fact-checking tools.”
