Arab world’s efforts to set up web content regulator revealed
SPEAKERS AT IGCF STRESS NEED FOR GOVERNMENTS TO CHECK MISINFORMATION
Arab countries are working on setting up an online content regulatory authority, the 10th International Government Communication Forum (IGCF) in Sharjah heard yesterday.
Sakher Marwan Dudin, Jordan’s Minister of State for Media Affairs and spokesperson for Jordanian government, said the objective of the authority would be to prevent misinformation and misuse of words that are particularly associated with Arabs and Muslims.
He was responding to a question by moderator Sally Mousa during a session on ‘The future relevance of government communication tools: An assessment.’
Omar Sultan Al Olama, UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, another speaker at the session, also felt that there should be a government platform to approve dissemination of critical news.
Balanced reporting
He was answering a question on how governments can balance the need for speed and crafting quality journalism by making sure that the information put out is accurate. “It is very important for us to understand that quality comes first and speed next. You tend to misinform on some platforms [in a hurry to publish content].”
Governments need to ensure the quality of content and give some sort of accreditation to verified news sources as they can affect political and social security, he added.
Call for vigilance
However Al Olama had earlier clarified that he does not advocate extensive moderation, but increased awareness about regulating online content. He said internet users must be mindful that “every single click is recorded”.
Al Olama cautioned that there are various dubious online methods including ‘deep-fakes’ to provide content that seems to be correct but will cause disruption. However, Al Olama said hate speech or messages that force people into acts of violence will not be tolerated by any government.
“What is happening right now is we are changing from a world with a paradigm of speed to a world of tailored content,” he said, noting that people want content that they want to consume, which is why there is a massive migration of people from traditional media to social media and OTT platforms.
Arab League to steer move
Dudin, speaking about the proposed online content regulatory authority, said Arab media ministers would be on board for the project. “We are about to establish an Arab content authority. Jordan is presiding over the Arab countries in this process,” he told the audience.
Dudin said a proposal for the same would be put forward to the Arab League in less than a month. “This is to safeguard the Arab League itself,” he added.
Elaborating on the purpose, he said the authority would monitor the online content and implement a system through which abusive and derogatory content would be removed or blocked by using certain keywords. “We as Arabs and Muslims, there are many words which we want to use properly. Some people misuse these words to do bad actions or evil deeds,” he said.
Craig Oliver, principal of Teneo, a global CEO advisory forum, and former director of Politics and Communication under former British Prime Minister David Cameron, spoke about the need for governments to embrace new media for effective communication strategies.