Online Conference 'Countering Online Disinformation and Hate Speech to Foster Peace'

What 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.