News
An inclusive and safe digital ecosystem in Mexico is promoting by the UN Information Centre, UNESCO and OHCHR
*Information by UNIC.
Ciudad de México-. Digital platforms are crucial tools that have transformed social, cultural, and political interactions worldwide. They have brought hope to people in times of crisis and struggle, amplified voices previously unheard, and breathed life into global movements.
However, these platforms have also revealed a dark side of the digital ecosystem due to misinformation, disinformation, and hate speech.
Hate speech and misinformation spread widely on social media can incite violence and death, as well as endanger democratic institutions and fundamental human rights, and the risks are intensifying due to rapid technological advances, such as artificial intelligence.
The UN Secretary-General published in 2023 the Our Common Agenda Policy Brief: Information Integrity on Digital Platforms, which outlines possible principles of a code of conduct to guide UN Member States, digital platforms, and other stakeholders in their efforts to make the digital space more inclusive and secure for all people, while also upholding the right to freedom of expression and opinion, and the right to access information.
The code of conduct is being developed in the context of preparations for the September 2024 Future Summit. The Secretary-General's goal is to serve as a reference guide for UN Member States, digital platforms, and other key actors to guide measures to strengthen information integrity.
To contribute to these principles to be discussed globally, the UN Information Centre for Mexico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic (UNIC), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Representation for México, and the Office in Mexico of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) organized a group of specialists to discuss the topic and provide feedback on the code of conduct under construction.
In total, 20 communication experts from academia, journalism, media, technology companies, the public sector, the private sector, civil society organizations, and international organizations participated in various working groups where topics such as:
Digital literacy of platform users
Increased transparency by companies
Allocating more resources to independent media
Promoting specialized information verification mechanisms
Developing regional and local ethical codes
- Strengthening the protection of personal data
- Promoting laws or binding measures in the field, among others.
The specialists emphasized the urgency of raising more awareness about these issues and generating commitments in legislative and other high-level decision-making spaces in Mexico, as well as paying special attention to electoral junctures such as the one that will occur in the country and many other nations in 2024.
