Key insights from researchers, government and regulatory authorities

How AI is changing manipulation

The first half of the meeting focused on the issues at stake, looking at how AI also affects and distorts the flow of information itself through algorithmic gatekeeping, influence operations, and manipulation. It is increasingly used to sow distrust, to emphasize some views for political gain, or, as some speakers emphasized for economic gain.

• On economic gain, Aleksandra Atanasova, Reset Tech’s lead open-source intelligence (OSINT) researcher, presented Reset Tech’s latest report  “Monetized Slopaganda”, emphasizing how monetisation is financing AI-driven political clickbait and deepfakes. One issue stems from the lack of transparency on what accounts earn from platform programmes and therefore makes the financial incentives behind coordinated campaigns hard to assess. According to the report, platforms have not consistently applied their stated labelling policies. Participants argued that monetisation should be established as a systemic risk factor under the Digital Services Act.
  
• On identification of AI driven manipulation, Dr. Vera Schmitt, Professor of Information Systems at JGU Mainz, explained that it is evolving faster than the methods used to evaluate it. The phenomenon of “LLM grooming”, described as the seeding of the web with manipulated narratives that AI systems later retrieve and reproduce, makes AI systems themselves a new target for manipulation. She stressed that AI has also lowered the cost of producing realistic deepfakes and that labelling alone is not enough, and that fact-checking may not keep pace with narratives that spread before they are flagged. She argued that existing detection tools need better coordination, integration into platforms and sustainable funding, rather than new efforts starting from scratch. 

Regulatory and policy responses

The second half of the meeting focused on the current and forthcoming regulatory responses to AI-driven manipulation, with expert interventions critically analysing the European AI Act whose transparency rules for chatbots, deepfakes, and AI-generated content have taken effect since 2 August 2026, but also approaches from other legislative contexts, including Ivory Coast’s Audiovisual regulator (HACA) presenting the regional perspective of the Second Abidjan Declaration and Brazil, with its forthcoming AI bill. 

On the EU AI Act, Ayşe Gizem Yaşar, Senior AI Researcher at the École normale supérieure, shared that harmful manipulation can arise not only from false information but also from the selective presentation of accurate information. She explained that the Act addresses it through Articles 5 (prohibits certain manipulative and deceptive practices) and 50 (imposes transparency obligations) but its prohibitions may be too narrowly drawn, and a focus on high-impact capabilities may overlook risks that become systemic through widespread deployment  On article 50 specifically, with regard to rules on transparency and provenance Bruna Martins dos Santos, Policy and Advocacy Manager at WITNESS shared their position by stressing that marking AI-generated content should go beyond a binary “AI or not AI” label, be privacy-preserving by design and extend to open weight models 

In Africa, while no specific AI legislation has been adopted, the regulators are taking a proactive approach. The second Abidjan Declaration, adopted by regulators in June 2026, extends their dialogue with platforms to AI. It calls for visible labelling of AI-generated content, fair remuneration for creators and better representation of African languages in AI systems . It provides the basis for potential regulatory frameworks. Finally Brazil presented its regulatory approach, which includes a substantial body of law relevant to AI, and a main AI Bill (No. 2.338/2023) which is still under consideration. The bill regulates AI systems rather than content moderation, and includes remuneration and opt-out rights for rights holders as well as transparency obligations 

Next steps

The fourth meeting will take place on 2 December 2026. The Forum will present recommendations on harmful manipulation, drawing on the replies to its questionnaire submitted by States of the Partnership on Information and Democracy. A dedicated session testing the final recommendations will also be held at the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in December.

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Based on one year of in-depth discussions, research and a questionnaire among States of the Partnership for Information and Democracy, the meeting was the occasion to present the draft structure and highlights of the forthcoming policy report to gather feedback. Private messaging platforms pose distinct challenges in terms of fighting disinformation given their semi-private nature. They also  occupy a regulatory gray zone, in most cases being excluded from online platform regulation. Therefore, media literacy is the most consistent policy response. Regulators have also not yet found a balance between encryption and accountability. 

The monetisation of disinformation

As private messaging platforms are evolving, incorporating more and more features of social media platforms, providers have also started to introduce advertising, which is the case of WhatsApp, Viber and Telegram. However, when platforms that aim to make profit introduce advertising in specific features, they will modify their designs and systems to encourage user engagement on these features, leading to addictive design choices that compromise content quality. The lack of transparency of the ad chain makes it difficult, even for well intended advertisers, not to finance disinformation. 

Artificial intelligence threatening encryption

Originally conceived for interpersonal communication, some of these platforms now enable to ask questions to an integrated artificial intelligence. AI capabilities range from a chatbot, to summaries and image generation, depending on the platform and country it is deployed in. Yet, AI mainly functions through shared models that the platform has to interact with, opening cybersecurity and encryption risks. Platforms need to be transparent about these new functions, their implications for encryption and empower users to decide if they want to interact with them. 

Next steps

The insights of the workstream will be summarised in a final policy report with concrete policy and regulatory recommendations addressed to States and platforms.

Stay tuned for a publication in early 2026!

L’article The evolving nature of private messaging platforms and its impact on information integrity est apparu en premier sur Forum Information & Democracy.

The debates around the management of information space could not do without a contextualized approach to different realities. That is the reason why, for more than three years, the Forum on Information and Democracy works with partners in different regions of the world to develop and adapt its policy recommendations.

The last report of the Forum on Information and Democracy, “IA as a Public Good: Ensuring Democratic Control of AI in the Information Space”, published in February 2024, therefore called for a localization of over the two hundred final recommendations. To this end, the Forum coordinated, in partnership with three members of the Civil Society Coalition in Benin, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal, of local consultation processes between public authorities and civil society experts.

“The reports we are publishing today are the result of longstanding work, articulating international standards and adaptation to different national contexts. We hope for this approach to enable both an appropriation of the debates by the actors of concerned countries, and a better inclusion of these recommendations in the international debates.”

• Camille Grenier, Executive Director of the Forum on Information and Democracy 

Following the consultations, a set of recommendations specific to each State have been selected in order to provide a democratic framework for AI. 

These three reports allow the Forum’s partner organizations to strengthen their advocacy towards national public stakeholders to enable clear, binding and inclusive legal frameworks, in line with the principles of the International Partnership on Information and Democracy. They include concrete recommendations, including:

• Strengthening of governance frameworks of AI systems, including with the implementation of AI national supervisory authorities, ethical certifications, and liability regimes on the use of AI, accompanied by independent complaint mechanisms.
• Supporting scientific research and the practice of journalism in the democratic control of AI, by implementing tools, infrastructures and necessary funding, thanks to a regulation similar to the Paris Charter on AI and Journalism.
• Raising awareness on an ethical use of AI in journalism, with the creation of a code of ethics on AI, by promoting a responsible use of AI, and assuring the protection of journalists rights.

These reports will also contribute to informing the work of the Forum’s international coalition, which brings together stakeholders from more than 56 countries.

Find below the three reports (in French) co-produced with our local partners: the NGO ALCRER in Benin, the Network of Online Press Professionals of Côte d’Ivoire (REPPRELCI), and the NGO JONCTION in Senegal. 

L’article AI and democracy in West Africa: recommendations for Benin, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal est apparu en premier sur Forum Information & Democracy.

Paris, February 5, 2025

From February 6 to 11, Paris will host the AI Action Summit. Organized by the French Presidency and decidedly focused on concrete deliverables, the Summit aims to “strengthen international action in favor of artificial intelligence serving the public interest.” It is expected to bring together dozens of heads of state, industry leaders, researchers, and a select number of civil society representatives.

“In an increasingly volatile international context, the AI Action Summit must help define a third way for the development of technological systems that already have a direct impact on the lives of millions of people. Our organization will actively contribute to ensuring that issues related to the information space are properly considered by the organizers and stakeholders gathered in Paris.”
— Camille Grenier, Executive Director of the Forum on Information and Democracy

Structured around different workstreams led by Anne Bouverot, the President’s Special Envoy for the Summit, the event has a particularly ambitious scope, covering topics such as the public interest, trust, the future of work, as well as culture and innovation.

Following recent announcements by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, France’s Minister for Digital Affairs, Clara Chappaz, also emphasized that the Summit will serve as an opportunity to strengthen cooperation towards “technology that serves society and social cohesion.” The Forum on Information and Democracy has actively contributed to these efforts over the past 12 months:

• February 28, 2024: The Forum launched its report on AI and the information space from Paris, Berkeley, Cape Town, Brasília, and Florence, proposing a regulatory framework to safeguard information integrity in the AI era.
• September 2024: The Forum proposed the creation of a voluntary certification mechanism for AI systems serving the public interest and issued a global call to action, signed by over 20 organizations.
• January 15, 2025: The Forum published the first meta-analysis from its Observatory, assessing the state of research on information ecosystems. A dedicated chapter focuses on AI, information, and democracy.

These initiatives demonstrate that regulating AI systems is essential to preserving the health of our information spaces and democracies. By ensuring data protection, value-sharing, bias mitigation, transparency, and accountability, artificial intelligence can genuinely contribute to expanding access to knowledge and progress.

During the Summit, the Forum will notably co-host a side event with the United Nations, UNESCO, and the Brazilian government. Titled “AI and Information Integrity on Climate Change,” the session will explore the challenges and opportunities AI presents for the right to information on climate issues. It will also connect the Summit to the Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change, launched at the G20 in Rio in November 2024.

L’article AI Action Summit: making information integrity a priority est apparu en premier sur Forum Information & Democracy.