The Council of Europe has joined the UN panel to examine what can be done about so-called ‘fake news’ and other challenges posed by digitisation.
At the 2017 Internet Governance Forum (IGF) – held in Geneva, Switzerland, between 17 and 21 December – the Council of Europe will contribute to a high-level panel tackling the effects of digitised information on politics, public trust and democracy.
There they will stress the importance of sustained digital literacy to counter any negative effects.
Although digitisation can promote transparency and increase public awareness of events, the Council of Europe raises human rights concerns, including privacy rights, media freedom and the impact of information disorder on democracy.
On Tuesday (19 December), the director of the Council of Europe’s Democratic Governance and Anti-discrimination Directorate, Claudia Luciani, joins panellists to assess themes such as WikiLeaks-style transparency versus government and institutional concerns for security and facing the challenge of bots used to influence elections.
Throughout the IGF conference, the council has planned events that promote human rights and democracy online.
