Council of Europe instruments and policies were presented at the SIDI - School on Internet Governance, Digital Policies and Innovation on June 1, 2021. Patrick Penninckx, Head of the Information Society Department delivered a presentation entitled “Information society developments and challenges”. The speaker described multiple impacts of the digital revolution on the society such as changing socialisation patterns, online hate speech and fake-news, disinformation and deep fakes, growing distrust in institutions and technologies, the rise of AI systems and proliferation of surveillance and cybercrime. He further elaborated on policies to manage the information society based on ethics and human rights. These policies require a multi-stakeholder approach with states and companies working together to gain control over technologies and regain trust of the citizens. The relevant policiy areas of the Council of Europe, such as tackling information disorder, promoting media freedom, addressing hate speech, cooperation with intermediaries , enhancing privacy, action against cybercrime, and work on artificial intelligence were presented in detail to the online audience.

Initiated in 2019, SIDI is a programme designed for professionals and students from South Eastern Europe and the neighbouring area. The second edition of the school (31 May – 11 June 2021) is co-organised by the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration in Bucharest, Romania (SNSPA), the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), and the South Eastern European Dialogue on Internet Governance (SEEDIG).

• Presentation