UNESCO: The World Press Freedom Day roundtable concluded that data makes a difference

UNESCO’s IPDC organised a roundtable to explore the importance of transparency in terms of journalist safety and media sustainability.

Symbol of UNESCO

As part of the activities surrounding the global conference on World Press Freedom Day held in New York on 3 May, UNESCO’s International Program for the Development of Communications (IPDC) organised an event in response to the IPDC Bureau’s decision to promote further work on transparency of internet platforms in terms of the safety of journalists and the sustainability of the media.

The roundtable in New York explored the methods, hurdles, and motivations for corporate platforms to exchange data, the necessity of data demarcation, privacy protection, security assurance, legal liability allocation, and how to increase platforms’ work on human rights impact assessment.

Transparency is a vital component of the UNESCO project. The topic’s importance for creating the UN Global Digital Compact and the Code of Conduct for the Integrity of Information on Digital Platforms, which will be completed in 2024, was stressed.

Participants also underlined the significance of the relationship between technology, transparency, journalist safety, and media sustainability.

‘Chilling’, a survey of female journalists sponsored by the International Center for Journalists with the help of UNESCO, was also noted as significant research on internet safety. This study highlights the value of merging qualitative findings from interviews and surveys with case studies based on big data, showing contributions to journalist safety and media sustainability.