Published on 24 June 2024, the UN’s Global Principles for Information Integrity sets an important international roadmap to enhance information integrity. These principles generally reflect the recommendations elaborated and shared by the Forum with the UN Secretariat and the States of the Partnership for Information and Democracy. The organization stands ready to partner with the UN for the implementation of these principles and the right to reliable information.
Following a consultative process, the United Nations published their Global Principles for Information Integrity on 24 June 2024. The Forum on Information and Democracy has contributed to the process notably through an official submission at the end of 2023. The organization also hosted a dedicated meeting of the States of the Partnership for Information and Democracy in September 2023 with the participation of Melissa Fleming, Under Secretary General of the UN.
“We welcome this international guiding document which reflects some of the principles we have been advocating for since the creation of the International Partnership for Information and Democracy in 2019. The principles on public empowerment, transparency and research, and independent, free and pluralistic media are particularly relevant. Implemented, they can ensure a more democratic information and communication space” highlights Camille Grenier, Executive Director of the Forum on Information and Democracy.
The Global Principles include a call to action notably addressed to technological companies, artificial intelligence actors and States. These actions are largely aligned with the recommendations published by the Forum in its various policy reports. These include among others, transparency, independent oversight and accountability regimes for platforms, attention to sociocultural linguistic contexts and languages in responses, inclusive processes to develop social media policies and diverse teams within companies, fair compensation for journalists’ content used in AI systems, provenance and labeling standards.
The Forum also welcomes the call on States to provide timely access to publicly held information, to abstain from conducting or sponsoring information operations, to ensure, protect and promote a free, viable, independent and pluralistic media environment and to prioritize, invest in and support independent research.
Although these principles are a landmark to guide international cooperation, some principles from the Partnership for Information and Democracy could have been included. Notably, the ideological, political and religious neutrality of the entities that structure the information and communication space should be ensured for a democratic digital public sphere. Also, the right to reliable information should not only be in times of crisis but a major guiding principle for the digital era.
The Forum and its partners stand ready to support the implementation of the Global Principles in the foreseen “broad-sector coalitions on information integrity” and will keep contributing to ongoing UN processes such as the Global Digital Compact and the Pact for the Future.
