Unesco invites Lula and Barroso to the forum that will propose regulation of social networks

Social media

The Forum will also feature the participation of youtuber Felipe Neto

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Minister of the Federal Supreme Court Luís Roberto Barroso and youtuber and digital influencer Felipe Neto were invited to participate in a UNESCO world forum that will discuss proposals to regulate social networks and combat misinformation and fake news.

The forum of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) will take place in Paris between the 21st and 23rd of February.

Unesco says that President Lula will not be physically present at the event for scheduling reasons, but that he should send video messages supporting the initiative. The video would be one of the highlights of the conference and would lead to more discussions on the topic.

Lula has already positioned himself several times in favor of tougher international regulation of social networks. He even advocated that the matter be dealt with directly by the G-20, the group of the largest economies in the world.

Minister Barroso confirmed that he is going to the French capital to participate in the event. According to Unesco’s programming, the minister will talk about how social networks are used to disseminate speeches that defend coups d’état.

Barroso has also defended several times the need to regulate social networks.

Earlier this month, the minister said at an event in Espírito Santo that “we need, to some extent, to regulate the internet and social media, so that they follow the path of civility and ethics”.

Unesco also confirmed that Felipe Neto, one of the biggest digital influencers in Brazil, with more than 44 million followers on YouTube, will be attending the conference.

Neto has already been involved in several controversies in the digital environment and has been heavily attacked through fake news on the networks.

This will be UNESCO’s first global conference on the topic, bringing together more than 1,500 representatives from governments, social media companies, academia, regulators and civil society. Unesco says that the internet is an important tool for communication and the dissemination of knowledge.

However, “social media platforms are also spreading misinformation, hate speech and conspiracy theories that damage the fabric of our societies, sowing mistrust, exacerbating political polarization, helping to sow extremism and undermining the conditions for peaceful coexistence. – in particular free and fair elections”.

According to the entity, social media business models “favor engagement and profitability over safety and human rights”.

For UNESCO, the conference is a response to a global call to action by the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Gutérres, to tackle the spread of misinformation and the denial of scientifically established facts, which represent “an existential risk to humanity”. .

*With information from CNN

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