Subtopic 3: Platforms as critical infrastructure for democratic discourse
Rapporteur: Katarina Bojović
¶ 1 Leave a comment on paragraph 1 1 Decentralised platforms have the potential to provide an alternative and overcome some of the concerning features of dominant social platforms, such as surveillance capitalism, the attention economy, and digital colonialism. Yet, many questions and challenges still need to be addressed, such as sustainable financing and the lack of scalable business models.
¶ 2 Leave a comment on paragraph 2 0 The surge in large language models such as ChatGPT and other possibilities to create synthetic text creates greater pressure on content filtering and a much bigger need for transparency. Big tech companies must adopt clear and transparent content moderation policies that prioritise accuracy and accountability, with clear procedures for removing harmful content. Companies must also ensure their content moderation systems and rules are fair, transparent, and easily accessible in user languages.
First paragraph: There is growing awareness that visions beyond regulation are needed for an Internet for Trust which allows for a democratic discourse. Approaches and concrete initiatives exist which contribute to a digital public sphere based on human rigths and working according to democratic rules.