Baghdad, The Iraqi team participating in the Paris International Conference “Internet for Building Trust I4T” held extensive discussions with the most prominent owners of digital platforms globally, which are widely spread inside Iraq, including Facebook, Tik Tok, Twitter and YouTube .
Discussions focused on how to secure a practical representation of these platforms inside Iraq, enabling the Iraqi judiciary to deal with disinformation, fake information, digital extortion, as well as online hate speech and similar challenges in the digital space.
Diaa Subhi al-Saray, responsible for the freedom of expression, communication and information sector at UNESCO Iraq, managed these meetings at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, while publishing judge Amer Hassan represented the judiciary and the Iraqi government.
The representatives of the platforms made a number of observations that hinder their communication with the State of Iraq, the most important of which was that Iraq is not a party to the six global digital and informational agreements, some of which date back to 1996, and among other challenges that impede the communication of these platforms is the intersection of the powers of Iraqi government institutions due to the large number of requests are received from Iraqi ministries and agencies, each of which claims to be the competent authority, in addition to the security situation, the issue of financial inclusion, and the absence of guarantees that secure the resources of their offices if they are opened in Iraq, since most of the requests that these platforms received from Iraq often come with titles of breaking the privacy of Iraqi users and violating their freedom.
The representatives of the platforms expressed objection to dealing with the Iraqi judiciary because it is the only party that did not previously ask them for information, and they stipulated that executive working papers covering most of the problems and challenges be organized, and that initial stages of remote cooperation start for a period of time to organize the work of these platforms and the mechanisms for their local use.
In turn, UNESCO adopted an action plan to implement a path of digital inclusiveness, transformation and exchange of benefits between the two parties to regulate these details, provided that the government of Prime Minister Muhammad al-Sudani agrees to the plan and sponsors its steps. It also urged the Iraqi government and the judiciary to issue a regulatory policy paper for the Internet sector Information and communication is based on international standards of freedom of expression. Global platforms and digital service providers are reassured to enter the Iraqi market, which is an ambition for them if guarantees are available.
Source: National Iraqi News Agency