Global Digital Compact deep dive on digital trust and security

Excellencies and colleagues,

In Denmark, we pride ourselves of a society characterised by a high level of trust. We generally tend to trust each other, the media and the government as well as other institutions of society. Trust is an invaluable adhesive that greases the wheels of society. It allows citizens to work towards their goals in life while spending less time and energy on mitigation. 

However, trust does not come easy. Trust has to be earned. And when earned, trust has to be maintained if it is not to wither away.

This is true also for the digital domain. To ensure trust , citizens need to feel secure. They need to see that their data and personal information are protected and not used for malign purposes. They need to see that new technologies are not used as a threat vector by state or non-state groups. And they need to experience that they can freely exercise their human rights online without undue restrictions.

As such, disinformation and foreign information manipulation and interference constitute a serious threat to public trust, including by inciting discrimination, hostility and even offline violence.

Distortion of the information environment can be exacerbated by technological developments, leading to a rapidly evolving sophistication level and scale of manipulation of the information domain.

Flooding the information space, for example by using AI-generated material, can be used to drown out authentic voices, including minority, women and youth voices, relevant information or dissent – and thus maliciously affect public discourse and policy outcomes at the local, national or international level.

We need to counter this risk setting up international frameworks for trustworthy information to thrive in the online space. This can be by ensuring the transparency of the origin of information and by improving the way it is produced, sponsored, used, disseminated and targeted in partnership with free and independent media. Inclusive solutions should be promoted through broad multistakeholder involvement and the cooperation of public authorities, industry, media and other online actors, as well as academia and civil society.

Another aspect of this is to work together across sectors to close the global digital divides.

As we continue to work toward the goal of universal connectivity, we have to develop the necessary democratic enablers, such as quality journalism, strong and independent civil society and fact checkers to limit the spread of disinformation and foreign information manipulation and interference.

Citizens everywhere should be equipped with media and digital literacy skills so that individuals are empowered to think critically about the information they consume and share. This will sharpen the ability to detect false or misleading content and enable our societies to become more resilient to the negative impacts of disinformation.

Online platforms should support free democratic debate online. Given the role of their services in amplifying people’s voices and in shaping public opinion and discourse, very large online platforms should to a greater extent mitigate the risks stemming from the functioning and use of their services, including in relation to misinformation and disinformation campaigns, and protect freedom of expression. This also includes strengthening efforts to prevent and address all forms of online sexual and gender-based violence in order to enable the equitable participation of women and girls online. The recent CSW Agreed Conclusions offer concrete tools to this end.

Proportionate with their societal influence, very large online platforms have a special responsibility for moderating user-generated content to ensure that their platforms are not misused to spread material for illegitimate purposes. This includes a responsibility to employ an appropriate amount of moderators with the relevant language skills, including in small languages.

Thank you.