A United Nations (UN) committee has adopted two resolutions, one of them aimed at the World Organization’s Department of Global Communications establishing and strengthening “partnerships with new and traditional media to address hate speech narratives.”
The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) also adopted a resolution further promoting the UN’s “Our Common Agenda” plan, which, among other points, proposes bank account-linked digital ID – as well as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), UN Pact for the Future, and Global Digital Compact – also pushing for digital IDs, censorship, and surveillance, with major countries as the schemes’ key backers.
Ahead of the adoption of the documents, representatives of a number of countries spoke in favor of expanded censorship under the UN umbrella, with Italy’s delegate advocating for the use of AI in combating “misinformation and disinformation.”
UK’s representative reiterated the country’s commitment to the UN Pact for the Future and Global Digital Compact, highlighted the far-reaching censorship law, Online Safety Act, and noted that it forces companies “to remove illegal online content, including illegal mis and disinformation generated by AI.”
Another thing the UK remains committed to, the address revealed, is digging its heels in when it comes to characterizing “misinformation” as a major threat.
The EU essentially co-signed all that, singling out, as it does, Russian disinformation, with El Salvador, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Malaysia also expressing their deep concern over “disinformation” of various types, and calling for the UN to work more on countering it.
Pakistan’s delegate remarked that Big Tech (Meta, Google) should be “collaborated” with, and warned they should not put profit before the need to join “the war on disinformation.”
As for individuals accused of spreading disinformation, Pakistan proposes to make use of the UN’s Global Principles for Information Integrity, designed to promote not only fighting “misinformation” and “hate speech,” but also censoring and demonetizing content algorithmically.
However, a meeting before the adoption of the texts also heard some dissenting voices, notably that of Argentina. The country’s representative was concerned that the term “hate speech” can be abused by those wishing to stifle “pluralistic debate.”
According to a UN press release, this delegate “dissociated himself” from those paragraphs in the documents that refer to “hate speech, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and Our Common Agenda.”
