AI, regulation, legislation & design of platforms
Research and reports about the regulation, legislation & design of platforms in relation to disinformation & information disorder.
Nick Benequista (Center for International Media Assistance), Laure-Hélène Piron (The Policy Practice), and Cristina Ordóñez (Trust, Accountability and Inclusion Collaborative)
Lies spread six times faster than truth online. That’s a pretty alarming figure, but perhaps not as concerning as the amount of time it has taken the international development community to act in response to the world’s growing information crisis.
Misleading information, rumours, and lies – which caused a profound human toll during the global pandemic – look set to be turbocharged by artificial intelligence. At the same time, the collapse of traditional advertising markets has left independent media vulnerable to capture and suppression by illiberal political interests.
Thomson Foundation and Media and Journalism Research Center
This paper explores the nuanced integration of AI in newsrooms across the V4 countries—Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. It highlights the substantial benefits of AI for efficiency and data management, especially for small and independent media outlets. Despite slow and cautious adoption, there is growing recognition of AI’s potential, particularly for automating repetitive tasks, allowing journalists to focus on critical topics. The research underscores the ethical concerns and need for transparency, reflecting a balance between technological advancements and journalistic integrity. It also contrasts V4 practices with global standards, noting the disparity in ethical guidelines and transparency efforts. The findings suggest that while AI offers significant opportunities, careful management is essential to uphold democratic values and foster regional collaboration.
NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights- PAUL M. BARRETT, JUSTIN HENDRIX
The full report is available here.
"YouTube, the most popular social media platform in the United States, dominates user-generated long-form video-sharing around the world. Like other major platforms, it has a dual nature: It provides two billion users access to news, entertainment, and do-it-yourself videos, but it also serves as a venue for political disinformation, public health myths, and incitement of violence."
Reuters - NIC NEWMAN, RICHARD FLETCHER, CRAIG T. ROBERTSON, KIRSTEN EDDY, RASMUS KLEIS NIELSEN
"While a break-out group of primarily ipmarket news publishers across the world report record digital subscription numbers and growing revenues, more broadly, we find that interest in news and overall news consumption has declined considerably in many countries while trust has fallen back almost everywhere – though it mostly remains higher than before the Coronavirus crisis began. We’re also seeing news fatigue setting in – not just around COVID-19 but around politics and a range of other subjects – with the number of people actively avoiding news increasing markedly."
The full report is available here.
National Endowment for Democracy, International Forum for Democratic Studies- STEVEN FELDSTEIN, EDUARDO FERREYRA, DANILO KRIVOKAPIC
The full report is available here.
"From cameras that identify the faces of passersby to algorithms that keep tabs on public sentiment online, AI-powered tools are opening new frontiers in state surveillance around the wor. Law enforcement, national security, criminal justice, and border management organizations around the globe increasingly rely on these technologies, which use statistical pattern recognition, machine learning, and big data analytics to classify information and predict resultant patterns autonomously. What are the governance implications of these enhanced surveillance capabilities?"
Article 19
The full report is available here.
"In 2022, as part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) project, ARTICLE 19 Europe – with the support of Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa (OBCT) – mapped initiatives on the safety of journalists deployed by States, or in whose work the State is involved, within the MFRR region. The result of that mapping exercise is this Directory. Until now, these initiatives have not been gathered together in one place. Indeed, some of the initiatives included here have not been documented anywhere else at all. The goals of this Directory are threefold:
To map existing initiatives on the safety of journalists.
To act as a single reference work for information about these initiatives.
To enhance the safety of journalists and the capacity of both journalists and States to respond to violations."
Center for International Media Assistance - SAMUEL WOODHAMS
"An increasing number of governments around the world are forcing internet service providers to slow their services during critical sociopolitical junctures—a practice known as throttling—infringing on citizens’ right to information and freedom of expression. Despite its deleterious impact on media development and foundational rights, throttling remains an often-neglected topic and risks becoming a pervasive, yet hidden, threat to press freedoms, democracy, and human rights."
Freedom House - Adrian Shahbaz and Allie Funk
"In the high-stakes battle between states and technology companies, the rights of internet users have become the main casualties."
European Parliament
Key takeaways:
Media exemption amendments have been proposed to reexamine the way in which the Digital Services Act could potentially censor lawful content.
SLAPPS (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) can be used by influential individuals, companies and public authorities to prevent certain publications from being published. However, the European Parliament also recognizes the need to protect citizens from media overstepping into their private lives.
The truth behind filter bubbles: Bursting some myths (2021)
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism- DR. RICHARD FLETCHER
“Many voices warn that social media may be filtering out news that we dislike. Here's what the research says about it.”
Disinformation during the pandemic and Latin America's regulatory response
Unesco - MARINA PITA
Brennan Center - ÁNGEL DÍAZ & LAURA HECHT-FELELLA
The report makes a number of legislative and platform recommendations to increase transparency, facilitate public interest research, and protect marginalised communities.
GMF Digital
“On Twitter, the drop was dramatic: a 60 percent quarterly decline in shares of content from deceptive sites by “verified accounts.” On Facebook, interactions with content from deceptive sites dipped by 15 percent in the first quarter of 2021, reflecting a comparable decline in interactions with all U.S.-based sites on the platform.”
Center for Democracy and Technology - DHANARAJ THAKUR & EMMA LLANSÓ
This paper explains the capabilities and limitations of tools for analyzing online multimedia content and highlights the potential risks of using these tools at scale without accounting for their limitations. It focuses on two main categories of tools: matching models and computer prediction models.”
Law Library of Congress (at the request of IREX)
This report highlights how governments in 20 countries have restricted media organizations’ rights and curtailed freedom of speech during the pandemic.
NORTH AMERICA
Cyber Secure Policy Exchange - SAM ANDREY, ALEXANDER RAND, M.J. MASOODI & STEPHANIE TRAN
More than eight in ten people in Canada use online private messaging platforms, such as Messenger, WhatsApp and Snapchat; and over half are receiving messages about the news or current events at least weekly. This growing vector for news is coming under increased scrutiny, as evidence from jurisdictions around the world reveal private messaging apps’ role in spreading disinformation and a broad range of already-illegal materials, including hate speech, inciting violence, cybercrime, sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation materials.
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