UN backs call for ‘responsible communication’ to become a sustainable development goal [Video]

United Nations secretary-general António Guterres has supported calls to make ‘responsible communication’ a UN sustainable development goal, saying the world “must respond to the harm caused by the spread of online hate and lies.”

The UNI recently unveiled its ‘Global Principles for Information Integrity’, which aim to provide a framework for coordinated international action to make the internet safer and more humane.

The principles were conceived to help uphold democracy and human rights in the face of misinformation, disinformation, hate speech and other risks.

The proliferation of artificial intelligence is also fear as a potential catalyst for online conflict and to groups that are often targeted in information spaces such as children.

In a recent global United Nations staff survey, 80% of respondents said harmful information endangers them and the communities they serve.

Guterres issued an urgent appeal to government, tech companies, advertisers and the public relations industry to step up and take responsibility for …