GFMD CO-ORGANISING WORKSHOP AT RIGHTSCON TUNIS WITH FREE PRESS

As part of our continued advocacy on media sustainability, digital markets, and business models, GFMD is co-organising a workshop at RightsCon Tunis with the U.S.-based advocacy organisation Free Press. The session will address the wider impact of the digital economy on democratic societies. We also plan to host an informal meeting of our new Dynamic Coalition, so please indicate your availability here.

Session Description

The title of the session is “Big Tech and the future of journalism: reinventing news and information in the age of Google and Facebook”. The overall aim of the workshop is to consider the wider impact of the digital economy on democratic society, and will take a hard look at both the benefits and harms of a world where global platforms are dominant distributors of news and information as well as major forums for public debate.

This session will explore five key issues/questions related to digital market mechanism- and failure-related challenges, including:

(1) How to monitor digital platforms’ activities, their market behaviours, and the potential consequences of those activities for citizens, journalists, news media organisations, and advertisers.

(2) Strategies to address regulatory imbalances – i.e., what are new approaches to the regulation of digital spaces?

(3) How to better inform consumers/citizens of their rights when dealing with digital platforms.

(4) What are the mechanisms that would support and sustain choice and quality of news and journalism in digital spaces?

(5) Market power and behaviour of digital advertising’s two most-dominant companies, Google and Facebook, what can be done to address competition barriers, and how to promote plurality, sustainability, and diversity as well as overall consumer choices.

Confirmed speakers

Tim Karr (Free Press)

Deniz Yazici (Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media)

Asad Beig (Media Matters for Democracy)

Nathalie Marechal (Ranking Digital Rights)

Moderator: Mira Milosevic (GFMD)