Implementing effective public policies to tackle the spread of false or misleading information and assessing their impact is the next frontier in governments' efforts to ensure a plural and high-quality information society. This high-level panel will focus on developing common guidelines on combating misinformation and strengthening the integrity of information as a necessary effort to strengthen democracy.

Governments have identified internal and international coordination as particular challenges in implementing efforts to strengthen the information space. This session will explore the challenges and lessons learned in putting in place institutional architectures and governance practices to tackle disinformation, including through developing national strategies, establishing offices and agencies, and capacity building of public officials.

New AI tools represent novel challenges to the information space, increasing opportunities to create and spread false and misleading information. Yet, how can we separate myth from reality? Panellists will present latest research on how artificial intelligence is used in the context of information operations, discuss AI tools that can be used for countering disinformation, and propose recommendations moving forward for policy-makers working on supporting information integrity.

Inequalities and geopolitical tensions can provide fertile ground for disinformation campaigns, including foreign information manipulation and interference. Manipulated narratives and false information have the power to polarise societies and disrupt democratic processes, both domestically and internationally. This session will delve into the challenges faced by the development community in the face of disinformation operations. Moreover, it will explore strategies and available tools to strengthen information integrity by effectively integrating development issues.

Who decides what the world sees, reads, and hears? This session will analyse the role regulation can play in minimizing systemic risks related to online and offline information spaces, including through more transparency obligations for online platforms and leveraging the role of traditional media.

Gathering information on sources, methods, and flows of information from abroad is critical to prevent interference in domestic democratic discourse and processes. This session will address how information-sharing and regulation must evolve to identify and prevent foreign information manipulation and interference, and to better understand the behaviours and actions of foreign malign actors in offline and online information spaces.

Governments cannot respond to threats posed by disinformation alone. New governance models designed to build the resilience of societies are needed. The focus of this panel will be to illustrate how governments can work more systematically and efficiently with non-governmental partners, researchers, and media organisations to design and implement effective policies to promote information integrity.

Have government interventions to build societal resilience to disinformation worked, and what do we mean by ‘success’? Understanding the goals and metrics that have been, or could be, established to promote information integrity will help identify effective policies and interventions. Answering these questions can also ensure goals are clear and respond to the larger objective of reinforcing democracy.