Governments are being asked to detail measures in place to help their populations determine fact from fiction in an age of rampant disinformation including on social platforms. A questionnaire is being sent this week to the 46 member states of the Council of Europe, based in Strasbourg, which is the continent’s leading organisation on human rights including media freedom and freedom of expression.
The survey seeks to identify common challenges and also opportunties to share best practices in areas including:
* Liability of individuals for dissemination of false information/propaganda
* Obligations on media/journalists’ under self-regulatory mechanisms for the press and online press
* Regulation/co-regulation of online platforms
In terms of empowering and building resilience against disinformation in society, the survey references:
* Support for quality journalism
* Promotion and prioritisation of professional news sources and media content of public interest reflecting societal diversity
* And efforts through fact-checking operations and other ‘debunking’ initiatives, trusted flaggers and labelling of non-authentic (automated) sources and content
The questionnaire was launched this week by the CoE’s Steering Committee on Media and Information Society (CDMSI), which held a plenary session attended by a panel of news media experts organised by the News Media Coalition (NMC). Special panel reports here and here.
The ‘media freedom’ work of the Council of Europe, report here.
