United Nations – The Second ministerial Summit for Information and Democracy (New York, Sept. 22, 2022)

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On the occasion of her trip to attend the United Nations General Assembly from September 19-23, 2022, the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, together with Reporters Without Borders, will be chairing the second ministerial Summit for Information and Democracy in New York on September 22, 2022. The ministerial summit will bring together the 45 partner countries of the initiative, whose goal is to promote freedom of opinion and expression and access to free, pluralistic and reliable information.

The war in Ukraine and the Covid-19 pandemic have reminded us of the challenges that we must face in the international information and communication space, between propagandists’ information manipulation campaigns, the spread of fake vaccine news via social media, the drastic curtailing of the freedom of the press and the need to strengthen journalism’s sustainability.

This second ministerial Summit for Information and Democracy will serve as an opportunity to:

  • Take stock of the fight against the spread of fake news by discussing the legislation of the International Partnership for Information and Democracy member countries and by encouraging the development of self-regulation practices in the private sector and in civil society. France and several other countries will specifically discuss the Journalism Trust Initiative, which is an independent, transparent certification body that aims to encourage and promote media outlets that comply with ethics and independence rules;
  • Discuss ways to ensure the financial sustainability of independent media outlets;
  • Present plans for the Observatory for Information and Democracy. Using the IPCC as a model, the observatory will be tasked with assessing changes to the international information space and publishing a regular report for Partnership member countries and civil society;
  • Announce the new member countries that have joined the International Partnership for Information and Democracy.

The International Partnership for Information and Democracy was launched on September 26, 2019, in New York. To date, it has been signed by 45 countries representing every region of the world. The Partnership is intended to promote freedom of opinion and expression and access to free, pluralistic and reliable information by instituting democratic safeguards in the international information and communication space. On November 10, 2019, Reporters Without Borders and ten independent civil society organizations created a Forum on Information and Democracy in order to implement the Partnership’s principles.