UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education took part in the Online International Conference “Internet for Social Good: a Multi-Stakeholder Understanding” organized by University of Hyderabad and Global AI Ethics Network for Social Good (India) on 24-25 May 2023. The conference focused on challenges of equitable access to information and new issues in content regulation related to rapid expansion in use of digital technologies.
The conference gathered policy makers, government officials, industry representatives, civil society activists, academics and international experts from Brazil, Ghana, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Russian Federation, South Africa, Thailand and Zimbabwe.
At the centre of discussions within the conference were the following topics:
- Challenges of access to information to citizens on digital platforms.
- Protecting user rights to information access and redress mechanisms to grievances.
- National content management policies and regulations.
- Transparency process of digital platforms in regulating access to information and content.
- Data sovereignty and privacy on digital platforms and apps.
UNESCO IITE was represented by Ms. Tatiana Murovana, who delivered the presentation “Media and Information Literacy Dimension of Access to Information as a Social Good” and shared some observations on intertwining of access to information and media and information literacy (MIL) within the fast-changing media and technological environment. She also introduced the conference participants to the UNESCO MIL Curriculum for Educators and Learners “Think Critically, Click Wisely!” as the source of educational materials on new topics in media literacy such as artificial intelligence, disinfodemics, information overload, etc.
The final document of the conference named Hyderabad Declaration on Internet for Social Good emphasizes, among other key points, the new urgency with respect to digital and media and information literacy and the need to include these types of literacies into formal education and teacher professional development curricula.