Reclaim the Net | Feb. 24, 2023
UNESCO, the UN agency for culture and education, this week organized an “impressive” gathering in Paris – “Internet for Trust.” It gathered close to 5,000 participants from governments, their regulators, Big Tech, journalists, etc., all looking for ways to stop “online hate speech.”
Among those who offered their thoughts on the topic – via a statement read by Secretary of Digital Policies Joao Brant – was Brazil’s newly, and controversially elected president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (aka, Lula).
The highlights of President Lula’s statements reflect his political platform and manifesto, and he sees the digital era as beneficial on one hand, but also deepening social inequality because the digital market is not “distributed equally.”
Then there’s the usual complaint that the internet era poses threats to democracy (the assertion is never specific, though, especially coming from those invited to this type of conference – who exactly, and how, is causing risks to democracy, with their approach to the internet?)
Lula’s statement proceeded to list other serious problems with internet platforms, as he sees them: poor communication between people, health hazards (he claims that “disinformation” about Covid has contributed to “thousands of deaths”), and, hate speech.
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