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Build Peace Conference in Kenya marks 10 years of global peacebuilding efforts
Organised by Build Up and supported by UNESCO, the annual conference discusses challenges and innovations for peace building in a digital era, including the spread of mis/disinformation and hate speech on digital platforms.
Themed “How technology and the arts influence identities relevant to peace and conflict”, this year’s conference provided a platform for reflection and expert discussions on the role of identities in conflict dynamics, particularly in Kenya and the East African region.
The three-day convening featured expert panels, short talks, presentations, and a series of interactive workshops from digital peacebuilding leaders and innovators worldwide. Novel perspectives emerged from the interdisciplinary dialogues on transformative practices in peace, conflict and innovation.
We are only mapping conflict, not the pockets of peace. I’ve not seen a dashboard telling me where things are working and why. In this regard, digital peacebuilding may be different from traditional peacebuilding. We can and need to map spaces of hope too.
At the conference, UNESCO hosted a workshop to showcase the good practices, lessons learnt, and achievements under the Social Media 4 Peace, a multi-year project funded by European Union that aims to strengthen the resilience of civil society to address potentially harmful content spread online. The project is also implemented in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia and Indonesia.
The project has made significant strides in strengthening the resilience of societies to the spread of harmful content online. It focuses particularly on combatting hate speech inciting violence, while protecting freedom of expression and enhancing the promotion of peace through digital technologies, especially social media.
A key milestone of the project in Kenya has been the establishment of a multi-stakeholder coalition on Freedom of Expression and Content Moderation, that strengthens cross-sectoral partnerships between national regulators, line government agencies, community media networks, academia, CSOs, NGOs, INGOs, think tanks, and civic tech companies. The Coalition aims to advance the localization of content moderation and formulate Kenyan context-specific strategies to address harmful content online. It also provides a common platform for structured dialogue between local stakeholders and big-tech platforms.
Addressing participants, Adeline Hulin and John Okande described how UNESCO is partnering with communities, governments, academics, technologists and media and civil society organizations in Kenya and around the world to engage digital platforms in localizing content moderation, while innovating multi-stakeholder solutions for peace online.
Individuals, organizations and countries can adapt these strategies from the Social Media 4 Peace programme to their local needs and contexts, and innovate their own response mechanisms to address harmful content on digital platforms. It is imperative that we pull our efforts together for this common cause.
Members from the National Coalition on Freedom of Expression and Content Moderation in Kenya were also in attendance, and shared their perspectives on the importance of forging cross-sectoral partnerships through the Coalition to strengthen Kenya’s position in dialogues with big-tech companies.
The workshop was attended by over 30 participants from more than ten countries, and engaged participants in lively discussions about how policies, innovative technologies and coordinated advocacy efforts can hold digital platforms accountable for addressing hate speech and disinformation online.
A key facet of its global strategy under the SM4P project, UNESCO has also supported the establishment of national multi-stakeholder coalitions on Freedom of Expression and Content Moderation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Indonesia. These coalitions have played a crucial role in bridging the gap between technology giants and local communities, while advocating for digital policies that are sensitive to different national contexts.
Participating in the Build Peace conference has been very valuable for UNESCO and the National Coalition on Freedom of Expression and Content Moderation in Kenya to share the results and lessons learnt of Social Media 4 Peace project with the digital peace-building community globally, who are key players and valued partners in our project.
