UNESCO organized a joint training course with the Ministry of Interior on international standards and indicators for measuring freedom of expression via the Internet, and content standards (harmful, abusive, and illegal), targeting officers and employees of the Ministry, in the context of the UNESCO MDP joint funding program to enhance freedom of expression and safety of journalists.
The Head of the Security Media Cell, Major General Saad Maan, referred to criminal phenomena and immoral uses represented in digital extortion and drug trafficking, in light of the steady growth of the use of the Internet and social networks in Iraq, which called on the security services and the Iraqi judiciary to launch the “Bulgh” platform to address degrading content, which seeks to restrict illegal use of the Internet.
UNESCO provided a guide on standards for illegal content and tools to address it, with prominent models from the European Union, Britain and Switzerland, as well as a mechanism for belonging to the most prominent international alliances concerned with regulating the Internet and digital platforms.
The Representative of the European Committee for Monitoring Social Media Platforms via the Internet also spoke, during his participation via videoconference, about the foundations of litigation and dealing with illegal digital content in some European Union countries.
In this intensive training course, the UNESCO Representative for the information and communication sector, Dhiaa Sobhi, reviewed international best practices for addressing offensive and harmful digital content in a way that does not restrict freedoms, but rather through information and digital literacy for the public of users.
For his part, the Representative of the Council of Commissioners of the Media and Communications Commission, Hussein Zamil, gave a presentation on the Commission’s efforts to open the doors of global digital platforms through a program to regulate the process of using the Internet and its platforms in Iraq.
Through discussions with the Director of the platform for the Ministry of the Interior and his team, UNESCO evaluated the mechanisms of this platform’s work and the challenges they face, in addition to agreeing to issue periodic reports showing the procedures of this platform related to the publishing and media courts in Iraq.
It is noteworthy that the joint funding program to enhance freedom of expression and the safety of journalists is one of the most prominent UNESCO programs that focus on developing indicators of freedom of expression on the Internet or through other means of expression. UNESCO believes that regulating the Internet and communications sector must be based on the foundations of educating the public of users before going to harsh and severe penalties.
Source: National Iraqi News Agency