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Delegates' Area
English
ECONOMIA DIGITAL
Pimenta warns of the advance of extremism and hate speech threatening democracy
Panel with partners of the Global South during the G20 side event on information integrity presents the challenges of the digital world such as misinformation, hate speech, and online threats to public institutions, with proposed solutions.
Minister Paulo Pimenta, from the Social Communications Secretariat of Brasil’s Presidency of the Republic (Secom/PR), opened the table of partners of the Global South at an event on information integrity organized by the G20 Digital Economy Working Group. The event took place in São Paulo this Tuesday (30). Pimenta showed concern over the advance of violent and anti-democratic extremism around the world, which impacts the countries’ political and economic stability. “The way they communicate and the very connection between misinformation and hate speech with local political culture vary from country to country. Hence the need to discuss local and varied solutions to the issue”, he declared.
“When we decided to address the issue of information integrity at the G20, we understood that we would need to widen our common views on the issue, overcoming political differences and considering local contexts. We also identified the need to strengthen the dialogue with countries from Latin America and the Globel South,” the minister explained.
According to Pimenta, part of the problems we currently face in Brasil are more similar to the realities of India, South Africa, Mexico, and the Philippines than that of Europe and North America. He attributed these differences to the identities of the developing countries, their economic challenges, and structural inequalities. “The concentration of social network platforms in the Global North also needs to be seen as part of the process reinforcing these inequalities,” he said.
Part of the issues related to the way these digital platforms operate are related to the data and political realities of the North, which makes it difficult to understand local realities. “We understand that it is vital to create a space to discuss among Global South governments and organizations, which include the participation of governments, civil society organizations, and international agencies”.
Pimenta proposed that the debate concentrate on answering issues that unite the Global South regarding the discussions on information integrity and whether the current spaces, including multilateral forums and existing coalitions, are enough to propose solutions for the current problems. The debates at the information integrity seminar will continue until Wednesday, May 1st. The panels will be transmitted live on the G20 website.