Rabat Summit Tackles Online Content Regulation Challenges in Digital Age

Hate speech, personal data protection, perils of artificial intelligence. The challenges that regulators must face today to ensure the security and reliability of the information provided, even in the digital world, are legion. It is on this issue that the High Authority for Audiovisual Communication (HACA) is holding an international meeting for exchange and dialogue between regulators, members of the Network of African Communication Regulatory Authorities, the Francophone Network of Media Regulators and representatives of regulatory bodies from other regions of the world.

Held under the theme "Media regulation in a digital, mobile and social environment: imperatives for adaptation and challenges of reinvention", this event brings together regulators from Latin America, Asia, the Arab world, Europe and Africa.

Several pluralistic debates are planned to dissect the problems generated by digital content. "Faced with a tsunami of content on social networks, the production of fake news is taking on more and more sophisticated forms: after ’fake news’, deep fakes also deceive both laymen and information professionals, so much do they approach reality," a press release states.

The document also apportions its share of responsibility to journalists in the observed excesses, especially after the conversion of many traditional journalists into web journalists.

For her part, the President of HACA explains in this document that "the multiple effects of the changes induced by digital technology, acutely question the modalities, the tools and the very foundations of regulation."

Note that the audiovisual content available, particularly on video sharing platforms (YouTube, DailyMotion), does not fall within the competence of HACA. The same applies to online electronic press, which may contain videos.