Collective action is needed to overcome the global information crisis, the UN-led dialogue says

The call came from a high level Information Integrity Solutions Dialogue at UN Headquarters in New York during high level week 81st session of the General Assembly.

Co-organized by Brazil, the UN Secretariat, the UN Development Program (UNDP) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the event brought together practitioners and policymakers from various regions and sectors to examine how the UN Global Principles for Information Integrity and it Global Digital Compact practicable.

Information integrity means ensuring reliable and accurate information is available to everyone, enabling people to make informed decisions, participate meaningfully in public life, and exercise their right to freedom of expression.

Participants warned that the rapid transformation of the information ecosystem, including the increasing use of unregulated and untested artificial intelligence systems and other emerging technologies, is deepening existing risks.

“Today, only a handful of companies still dominate and shape our global information architecture,” said Melissa Fleming, UN Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications.

“The priorities remain the same: engagement, profit. Always placed above the public interest,” he said. “Today, information defenders – civil society, journalists, scientists and others – remain underfunded and under attack.”

“In short, we are in a global information crisis. This crisis has evolved, but so has our resolve.”

Starting from principles to practical solutions

Dialog also on display how governments, organizations and communities respond, with an emphasis on turning shared principles into solutions at national and regional levels.

The integrity of climate information is a primary focus. Participants highlighted the Global Initiative for Integrity of Information on Climate Change as a model for connecting global norms with national realities and placing countries of the South at the center of solutions.

Projects supported by the Initiative include efforts to increase public access to evidence-based research, strengthen information literacy and community communications, and advance platform accountability.

Participants said many of these approaches could also be applied to other priorities, including elections, peace and security, children’s online safety, protection of human rights defenders and disaster response.

The private sector is also under scrutiny, including business models that can incentivize harmful practices online. Speakers highlighted working with advertisers to promote human rights-responsible advertising and reduce unintentional funding for harmful content and practices.

Trust was also a recurring theme, with participants highlighting the increasing difficulty of determining what is real and identifying accurate and reliable information. The proposed solution emphasizes community outreach and direct human involvement.

“The solutions we have are as broad as the threats we face,” Fleming said. “From climate to health to democratic governance. From prevention to response. Together, we are working towards these solutions.”

Build a stronger network

Participants reaffirmed information integrity and the UN Global Principles as a common framework to unite various actors in support of a safer and more humane information ecosystem.

They also called for greater exchange of knowledge and experience between regions and sectors, as well as increased investment to maintain and expand existing solutions.

As a concrete next step, the UN is developing the Global Information Integrity Exchange (GIIIx), which will connect practitioners, researchers, policy makers and other stakeholders who are working to find solutions to information threats.

This will facilitate the exchange of research, tools, training materials, and policy development, while connecting people working toward shared information integrity goals. The UN Information Integrity Center of Excellence and related initiatives will be included in the Exchange.

Participants also called for a UN-African Union pan-African conference on information integrity, greater availability of research tools, and stronger protections for information integrity defenders.

AI takes center stage at UNGA81

The dialogue comes during a high-level Assembly week in which artificial intelligence featured prominently in discussions on multilateralism, human rights, development and global governance.

Opening the annual General Debate on September 22, Secretary General Antonio Guterres highlighting the speed of AI development and calling for reliable guardrails to limit potential harm while allowing innovation to continue. He also emphasized the need to involve the government, business world, scientists, civil society and academics.

The impact of AI on children is also in focus. On September 22, the Coalition for Children’s Rights and Protection in the Age of Artificial Intelligence brought together global leaders to strengthen cooperation in protecting children’s rights and safety in the digital era.

The meeting unveiled a roadmap that includes safety design, protecting children’s data, action on AI-powered sexual abuse material, age assurance, AI literacy and stronger evidence on how children use AI.

Against this backdrop, the Information Integrity Solutions Dialogue examines AI as part of the broader information ecosystem and how technological change impacts trust, access to reliable information, and society’s ability to participate meaningfully in public life.

Participants closed with a call for greater collaboration across sectors and regions, so that the principles underlying information integrity can be translated into measurable actions in the future. COP31the next edition of the UN climate conference, as well as the Internet Governance Forum and so on.

Find the Chairman’s Summary of the event Here.