Global groups call for stronger AI accountability rules
Experts urge greater accountability from AI companies as AI reshapes news consumption and digital information systems.
Global organisations have called for AI governance frameworks that prioritise trust, information integrity and child safety, backed by enforceable accountability from AI companies.
The European Broadcasting Union delivered the message alongside Fondation Abeona, the Global Trust Challenge and 5Rights Foundation at a side event of the UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance in Geneva.
The groups warned that AI companies are increasingly shaping how people access and evaluate information, while traditional markers of editorial accountability, such as bylines and editorial principles, may become less visible to audiences.
They also pointed to declining public trust in news and rising use of AI chatbots as information sources.
Child safety was another central concern. 5Rights Foundation warned that children are adopting generative AI faster than adults, while many AI systems are not designed with children’s rights and development in mind.
The organisations presented three recommendations to the UN Global Dialogue.
They called for public service media to be recognised as trust anchors in national AI governance frameworks.
They also urged stronger safeguards requiring AI systems that affect children to be demonstrably safe, accurate and effective before reaching the market.
A third recommendation called for open, interoperable standards and sandboxed environments, so that information infrastructure is not shaped solely by technology companies.
Why does it matter?
The side event links AI accountability to two sensitive areas: information integrity and child safety. As AI systems become gateways to news, search and everyday information, governance frameworks will need clearer rules on accuracy, sourcing, attribution and responsibility. The child-safety recommendation also establishes a stronger accountability standard: AI systems that affect children should be proven safe and effective before deployment, rather than relying on harm mitigation after problems emerge.
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