UNESCO chief urges tough regulation of social media to curb misinformation

UN educational, scientific and cultural agency chief called for a global dialogue to find ways to regulate social media companies and limit their role in the spreading of misinformation around world

The United Nations' educational, scientific and cultural agency chief on Wednesday called for a global dialogue to find ways to regulate social media companies and limit their role in the spreading of misinformation around the world.

Audery Azoulay, the director general of UNESCO, addressed a gathering of lawmakers, journalists and civil societies from around the world to discuss ways to regulate social media platforms such as Twitter and others to help make the internet a safer, fact-based space.

The two-day conference aims to formulate guidelines that would help regulators, governments and businesses manage content that undermines democracy and human rights, while supporting freedom of expression and promoting access to accurate and reliable information.

The global dialogue should provide the legal tools and principles of accountability and responsibility for social media companies to contribute to the public good, Azoulay said in an interview with The Associated Press on the sidelines of the conference in the French capital. She added: It would limit the risks that we see today, that we live today, disinformation (and) conspiracy theories spreading faster than the truth.

The European Union last year passed landmark legislation that will compel big tech companies like Google and Facebook parent Meta to police their platforms more strictly to protect European users from hate speech, disinformation and harmful content.

The Digital Services Act is one of EU's three significant laws targeting the tech industry.