When :
from Tuesday 21 September, 2021 10:00 to Tuesday 21 September, 2021 16:30Where :
Online from Brussels (GMT+2), BelgiumContact :
Adeline Hulin, a.hulin@unesco.orgWhat is the role played by social media in promoting peace and enhancing access to information?
How to prevent social media being used to polarize society, amplify disinformation, increase intolerance or fuel hate and conflicts?
How to ensure the respect for freedom of expression while curbing potential online harmful content?
Those are some of the questions to be discussed on 21 September at an online conference organized by UNESCO with the support of the European Union for the International Day of Peace and ahead of the Universal Access to Information Day.
A year and a half of global crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic has put lives, public health, livelihoods, economies and in extension also political systems and social fabrics under unprecedented strain. The pandemic and associated movement restrictions have also accelerated the evolution of digital information sharing patterns and use of digital communication tools.
Through the angle and experience gained from the implementation of two projects funded by the European Union and spanning this period of challenges and change, #CoronavirusFacts and Social Media 4 Peace, this conference will examine pressing global issues of social media content governance to counter online hate speech and disinformation and foster mutual respect and the need to develop common principles for a global online space. It will further discuss the role of the European Union and the United Nations in setting global standards and the need to act at local level to tackle challenges of disinformation and hate speech in context.
Draft Programme & Speakers
Watch live on YouTube
Ressources
#CoronavirusFacts
The project '#CoronavirusFacts: Addressing the ‘Disinfodemic’ on COVID-19 in conflict-prone environments' leverages the pivotal role of freedom of expression and access to information to address information needs in times of COVID-19 and to tackle the massive wave of disinformation which threatens to impact democracy, sustainable development and stability around the world.
Social Media 4 Peace
The project is meant to strengthen the resilience of civil society to potentially harmful content spread online, in particular hate speech inciting violence, while enhancing the promotion of peace through digital technologies, notably social media in 3 pilot countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Indonesia and Kenya.