"In 2011, working with the Communications Regulators’ Association of Southern Africa (CRASA),1 the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in cooperation with the European Commission (EC) pu
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blished a toolkit on universal access funding and universal service implementation to provide guidance on how to establish, manage and ensure good governance of universal access and service funds. It also offered advice on sources of traditional and new financing mechanisms with relevant good practices and country experiences.
[.] Over the past decade, countries have taken different approaches to universal access and service funding. Ongoing, and in some cases worsened, socio-economic conditions have meant bridging the digital divide is more difficult – the Covid-19 pandemic, systemic poverty and global political uncertainty have all taken a toll.
By the end of 2023, of the 14 CRASA Member States, all part of the Southern African Development Community known as “SADC”, 11 had reported having operational access and service funds. In these countries, laws have been passed establishing funds and setting out specific mandates, the scope of funding, eligible beneficiaries and the governance frameworks for fund operations. The toolkit has been updated to reflect ICT sector changes, such as the evolution of universal access and service, and a wider scope of universal access funding that now covers not only connectivity but also adoption, innovation, and inclusivity. The revised SADC toolkit also addresses the different institutional and legal setups across CRASA Member States and the diverse roles and responsibilities of fund managers. Some of the challenges experienced by fund managers and how these could be addressed are also considered." (Summary)
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"This publication is a directory of the member organisaztions of the German Forum Media and Development (fome) and some of their working areas as of March 2024." (commbox)
"The first State of the Digital Decade report takes stock of the EU’s progress towards a successful digital transformation for people, businesses, and the environment as set out in the Decision establishing the Digital Decade Policy Programme 2030 (“the Digital Decade Decision”). It reviews di
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gital policy developments and describes how the EU is advancing towards the agreed targets and objectives, thus outlining where the EU stands at the outset of the implementation of the Digital Decade Policy Programme. The overall analysis of the EU’s progress against the Digital Decade objectives and targets is shown in Figure 1 and the country reports presented in an annex to this report provide a more detailed picture." (Introduction)
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"This study analyses how governments, public health experts and other professionals communicated during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the impact of these communication strategies. It investigates COVID-19 misinformation and disinformation practices, and how these practices were addressed in the
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European Union by the Member States and the European Commission. It draws up recommendations to improve responses in the future, including by analysing the role of the Code of Practice on disinformation ad the expected impact of the Digital Services Act." (Abstract)
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"The Routledge Handbook of Collective Intelligence for Democracy and Governance explores the concepts, methodologies, and implications of collective intelligence for democratic governance, in the first comprehensive survey of this field. Illustrated by a collection of inspiring case studies and edit
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ed by three pioneers in collective intelligence, this handbook serves as a unique primer on the science of collective intelligence applied to public challenges and will inspire public actors, academics, students, and activists across the world to apply collective intelligence in policymaking and administration to explore its potential, both to foster policy innovations and reinvent democracy." (Publisher description)
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"The Code of Practice on Disinformation is a first-of-its kind tool through which relevant players in the industry agreed - for the first time in 2018 - on self-regulatory standards to fight disinformation. Its revision process was launched in June 2021 and, after the signature and presentation of t
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he revised Code on 16 June 2022, the new Code will become part of a broader regulatory framework, in combination with the legislation on Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising and the Digital Services Act (DSA). For signatories that are Very Large Online Platforms, the Code aims to become a mitigation measure and a Code of Conduct recognised under the co-regulatory framework of the DSA. The strengthened Code of Practice contains 44 commitments and 128 specific measures, in the following areas: demonetisation - cutting financial incentives for purveyors of disinformation; transparency of political advertising; ensuring the integrity of services; empowering users; empowering researchers; empowering the fact-checking community; transparency centre and Task-force; strengthened monitoring framework."
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"With the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA) package, the European Union will adopt what is probably the most significant international standard-setting project besides the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It is
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expected that the DSA will have far-reaching impact beyond the EU. This legal opinion deals with concrete questions on the effectiveness of the DSA, as well as in the areas of conflict with freedom of communication and dissemination of disinformation. The opinion concerns the draft published by the European Commission in December 2020." (Executive summary, page 5)
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"The influence of Russian state-run foreign media (RT, Sputnik et al.) on public opinion in Western democracies is now common knowledge - regardless of its political qualification. Well-documented analyses are available, e.g., from the USA, France and Germany. The German government has also repeated
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ly pointed out the dangers of Russian state propaganda for the German media landscape. The European Parliament has repeatedly called for member states to adopt strategies against "hostile propaganda" from Moscow. The EU Commission has set up a small department to detect fake Russian news." (Introduction)
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"The study’s overall conclusion is that the Code of Practice has produced positive results. There is a consensus among stakeholders that the Code of Practice is needed. Since disinformation continues to be a widespread problem, the Code, its aims and activities are considered to be highly relevant
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. Furthermore, stakeholders consulted for the study also agreed that disinformation is a topic where the EU has an added value and where it should continue to lead and coordinate action. Despite differences in stakeholder views with regards to the effectiveness of self-regulation, there is widespread acknowledgement that the Commission is right in pursuing a dialogue with the social media platforms. There is also acknowledgement that the Code constitutes a first and crucial step in the global fight against disinformation. In this sense, the Code shows European leadership on an issue that is international in nature." (Executive summary, page 3)
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"The Council of the European Union [...] invites the Commission and member states, within their areas of competence and in due compliance with the principle of subsidiarity, to: 42. continue and u
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ndertake further efforts in terms of a systematic, comprehensive and cross-sectoral approach to developing media literacy and raising awareness of the importance of media literacy; national efforts undertaken in this perspective, including funding initiatives, should be accompanied at EU level; 43. foster better use of the possibilities offered by EU funds and EU programmes to support media education and diverse media literacy projects and initiatives (e.g. support for the media through the Creative Europe programme, in particular the new action on support for the media) and to develop additional funding sources as well as create synergies between the relevant EU programmes; 44. ensure that media literacy measures targeting minors under the Better Internet for Children Strategy keep pace with the continuously evolving digital environment; 45. finance and foster systematic and regular research into media literacy and the impact of media and digital platforms (e. g. systematic research on media literacy measures and initiatives; research into the influence of new media and communication platforms on well-being of citizens; research into the operation of algorithms and AI and their influence on public opinion, people’s lives, and media consumption, as well as on the European media and audiovisual industry); 46. support the audiovisual industry in developing quality European content and distribution platforms, taking into account the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the audiovisual sector in general; 47. encourage platforms and media outlets to cooperate on the development of tools and processes that promote the visibility and findability of quality news sources, along with the visibility and findability of quality European audiovisual content." (Page 26)
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"1) Any definition of disinformation in legislation or other regulation, such as regulatory guidance, must take into account the serious implications for freedom of expression and media freedom. Particularly to the extent that provisions on disinformation have been adopted in criminal law, a precise
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definition is paramount. This is even more important following the basic principle of criminal law, which prescribes that penalties only may be imposed when the criminal behaviour and the applicable penal sanctions within the upper and lower limits are precisely formulated in the law. Scholars and fundamental rights experts have warned that disinformation is an “extraordinarily elusive concept to define in law”, and is “susceptible to providing executive authorities with excessive discretion to determine what is disinformation, what is a mistake, what is truth”. Further, measures to combat disinformation “must never prevent journalists and media actors from carrying out their work or lead to content being unduly blocked on the Internet.” Indeed, the European Commission has warned that laws on disinformation which are “too broad” raise particular concerns as regards freedom of expression, and can lead to self-censorship. Given the dangers associated with defining disinformation in legislation, great caution should be exercised in enacting a definition. 2) Current national approaches are very divergent, which from a Digital Single Market and market freedom perspective can create problems for the freedom of the media to disseminate information across borders. This clearly demonstrates a further need for considering all options of handling more unified concepts. 3) Where disinformation is sought to be defined, common elements of a more unified approach to defining disinformation should be: (a) false or misleading information, (b) disseminated with a specific intention (malicious or bad faith) (c) and has the ability to cause certain public harms." (Recommendations, page 85)
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"Disinformation and infodemics have been central for the media policy agenda in most countries and in particular in Europe. Yet, the European Commission has had a soft law approach centralizing ob
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ligations to handling information disorder on a content level. This commentary argues that by focusing primarily on the content level we miss the bigger picture where disinformation and infodemics are only symptoms of something more important on a media infrastructure level. The commentary suggests that we need to reconsider regulation on the infrastructure level instead that supports the democratic need for better access to verified content by looking at how the current legal structure across regulatory silos is benefitting the exact opposite. Furthermore, the commentary suggests to specifically address influencers (defined by number of followers) in the context of moderation, and lastly suggests that user data is ideally stored and governed outside privately owned companies in Europe in order to benefit users and society at large." (Abstract)
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"Justice4Her is a cross-sector, multi-stakeholder project of RNW Media and Qianqian Law Firm that seeks to strengthen the rule of law and reduce gender-based violence (GBV) towards women migrant workers in China. The project launched in 2016 and targets women migrant workers in Beijing, Shanghai and
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Guangdong Province and was scaled further with co-funding from the European Commission in 2018. Justice4Her provides legal support through a digital interactive platform and disseminates information on GBV to millions through online channels (social media platforms, blogs, email, WeChat groups) and integrates this online work with offline activities. The project has increased mainstream media coverage in China of how GBV affects young women migrants and carried out viral online campaigns to raise public awareness and to challenge tolerance and acceptance of GBV. While advocating for the improvement of anti-domestic violence laws in China, Justice4Her provides pro bono legal aid to victims of GBV in partnership with Beijing Qianqian law firm, a local law firm, both in the form of consultations via mail and support in bringing their cases to court and representing them. The project has also trained pro bono lawyers to better represent victims, media professionals to encourage more gender sensitive reporting on cases of GBV and NGOs on how conduct successful anti-GBV media campaigns and effectively counter negative stereotypes and shift public discourse from a victim blaming narrative to a survivor narrative." (Introduction)
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"With CARE’s fourth global 'Suffering In Silence' report, we are starting to see a trend of certain countries annually remaining on the list of the most under-reported crises. While we expanded the analysis in 2019 by including Spanish and Arabic online media coverage (in addition to English, Fren
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ch and German), the results are surprisingly similar to previous years: 6 of the 10 crises had already appeared in the ranking at least twice in the past three years; 9 of the 10 crises take place on the African continent. They range from drought to displacement, conflict, epidemics and food insecurity. In order to address these recurrences, we need to ask: what are the factors that contribute to the silent suffering? The duration of a crisis may play a role, along with its effect on, or how it is affected by, international geopolitics. The European Commission defines a forgotten humanitarian crisis as a severe and protracted humanitarian situation in which people receive little to no international aid. In addition, there is a lack of political will to end the crisis as well as a lack of media attention, meaning the crisis develops beyond public perception." (Introduction, page 5)
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"In this article, we draw on experiences from the Grassroot Wavelengths project that introduces an innovative peer-to-peer platform to support the creation and management of community radio stations. We offer insight into the practices of participation in community media, where the users influence d
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ecisions concerning the technology, the content, the actors and the organization policy of the radio station, through a participatory design approach. These collaborations between researchers and users, together with a focus on the development of relational assets in local contexts, are fundamental in an attempt to design a platform that fosters conviviality and offers an alternative way to consider participation in community media." (Abstract)
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