France: A new global survey has found that more than 85 percent of people are concerned about the impact of online disinformation. The survey, conducted in 16 countries, further noted that 87 percent believe that the spread of misinformation has already affected their country’s politics.
According to Mr. Audrey Azoulay, Director General of the UN’s Culture Body, UNESCO, false information and hate speech spread online pose “major risks to social cohesion, peace, and stability.”
“Regulation was urgently needed to protect access to information while at the same time protecting freedom of expression and human rights”, Ms. Azoulay commented while presenting a “governance blueprint” for governments, regulators, and platforms.
The UNESCO-commissioned survey, held among a total of 2.5 billion voters, showed how pressing the need for effective regulation had become.
The survey, conducted by pollster Ipsos among 8,000 people in countries including Austria, Croatia, the US, Algeria, Mexico, Ghana, and India, found that 56 percent of internet users got their news mainly from social media, far more than from TV (44 percent) or media sites (29 percent).
Across all 16 countries, 68 percent of respondents said social media was where fake news was most widespread, ahead of messaging apps (38 percent). This belief was “overwhelmingly prevalent in all countries, age groups, social backgrounds, and political preferences”.
Disinformation was overwhelmingly seen as a concrete threat, with 85% saying they were worried about its influence. Eighty-seven percent said disinformation had already had a major impact on national political life and would play a part in 2024’s elections.
Hate speech was also seen as widespread; 67 percent of respondents said they had seen it online. Large majorities (88 percent) said governments and regulators must address both issues, and 90 percent also wanted platforms to take action.
“People are very concerned about disinformation across every country and social category—age, education, rural or urban. They are especially worried during elections, and they want all actors to fight it,” Mr. Mathieu Gallard of Ipsos shared.
Mr. Guilherme Canela de Souza Godoi, UNESCO’s chief of section for freedom of expression, noted that more than 50 countries were already regulating social media, but some of them were not in accordance with international free speech and human rights norms.
“The guidelines represented a strong blueprint based on a human rights approach, designed to inform and inspire governments and regulators”, Mr. Godoi commented.
UNESCO further added that independent and well-resourced public regulators must be established everywhere and that they should work closely together as part of a wider network to prevent digital organizations from taking advantage of national regulatory differences.
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