From 6-10 June 2022, the Council of Europe participated in the RightsCon 2022 to discuss the benefits and challenges of human rights in the digital age. 

Kristian Bartholin, Secretary of Committee on Artificial Intelligence - Head of Digital Development Unit spoke about the Council of Europe's approach to Artificial Intelligence in the session Spotlight on AI and Freedom of Expression (SAIFE): what's next for policymakers? 

He also participated in the Globalpolicy.AI dedicated session for a discussion between representatives of IGOs, civil society, academia and the public in general regarding opportunities and challenges posed by AI technologies. 

Urška Umek, Head of Media Unit provided some insights into the European regulatory challenges in democratising algorithms for news and other public interest content, aiming to make such content more apparent and easier to discover on digital platforms. In 2021 the Steering Committee on Media and Information Society adopted the Guidance note on the prioritisation of public interest content with good practice principles for states and platforms in designing their regimes of prominence.

RightsCon is a civil society-led space where all stakeholders – from tech companies to government representatives, human rights defenders –come together to build a rights-respecting digital future.