Freedom of expression is instrumental to peace in any society, says Guy Berger, Director, Policies and Strategies for Communication and Information, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Berger made this known on Wednesday at a breakout session of the World Press Freedom Day Global Conference titled: “Freedom of Expression During Conflicts – Curbing of War-Related Disinformation vs. access to information on internet Platforms”.
The conference, organised by UNESCO and the Republic of Uruguay, held in a hybrid format under the theme: “Journalism under Digital Siege,” and explored the digital era’s impact on freedom of expression.
According to Berger, if people are enabled to have pluralistic and reliable information, the presence of peace will be unavoidable.
He said that when UNESCO was set up, it promoted in its constitution, free flow of information, adding that freedom of expression was a serious human right.
Berger said public opinion and a free media had the ability to end conflicts, citing the example of the Vietnam war.
“We need to be very careful because disinformation and propaganda for war are not exactly the same thing.
“Accountability and transparency don’t go away just because there’s a conflict,” he said.
He also stressed the importance of fact checking in situations of conflict and noted that truth is always the first casualty of war.
Cristian Vaccari, Professor of Political Communication, Loughborough University and Editor-in-Chief, International Journal of Press/Politics, said the world is facing an unprecedented situation with the war in Ukraine.
He said the war had led the world, media platforms and governments to rethink the boundaries, compromises and the trade offs between Freedom of Expression and other societal values.
“These are very challenging situations where a lot of mistakes are made and as the saying goes, truth is the first casualty of war.
“Sadly, we are seeing freedom of expression being severely restricted as a result of the war.
“This is obviously happening in Russia because companies that run internet services and digital platforms have pulled out of the country largely as a result of the sanctions imposed by Western governments.
“As a result of that, there is less freedom of expression,” he said.
According to Vaccari, as defined by article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights, humans have freedom to hold opinions, receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers.
“An important way forward is to agree to have a robust discussion and agree on principles around which freedom of expression should be exercised.
“The design of digital infrastructure, need for transparency, especially among private actors, but also public institutions, the importance of accountability and redress with freedom of expression is impinged upon the role of education and empowerment of users,” he said.
Eliška Pírková, Global Freedom of Expression Lead at Access Now, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) said that in times of crisis, adequate access to information could save lives.
According to her, an essential part of war periods is meaningful engagement and cooperation between platforms and trusted partners who are well informed about nations at war.
“We can all agree that in times of crisis, safeguarding human rights and guaranteeing a stable environment for all is the priority,” she said.
