The International Observatory of Information and Democracy, intended to fight against disinformation in the digital age and supported by 43 states, must be created "
within a year
", announced its promoters on Saturday, November 13 during the Paris Peace Forum.
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"
The challenge is for States to be able to have clear and shared assessments of the functioning of the digital space and its impact on democracy,
" said Christophe Deloire, Secretary General of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), who this initiative.
It is a question of "
resisting the technological forces used within democracies themselves, and by despotic regimes, to weaken
" the former.
The Observatory "will speak to the public, educate it and wake it up"
A prefiguration group is responsible for imagining this new institution. It is co-chaired by Shoshana Zuboff, American academic from Harvard, specialist in "
surveillance capitalism
", and the Mexican Angel Gurria, former secretary general of the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development). It includes in particular the Filipino journalist Maria Ressa who has just received the Nobel Peace Prize.
The Observatory "
will speak to the public, educate it and wake it up
", help governments by "
providing them with knowledge from
scientific
research
", and promote "
international dialogue
" on these subjects, underlined Shoshana Zuboff.
"
We need an organization that looks at what is happening within technological platforms, which is not just governmental but which works for the general interest
," added Ms. Ressa, believing that democracies, contaminated by the "
virus of lies
", were "
on the edge of a precipice
".
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"
It is a question of setting up a real IPCC of information
", concluded the French Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian, with reference to the international group of experts which makes reference in matter of climate change.
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