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Asean meeting targets bloc’s digital readiness
Fighting against fake news and improving citizens’ digital literacy are the top two priorities at the Asean Ministers Responsible for Information (AMRI) conference.
“Like the rest of world, Asean is undergoing a digital transformation and citizens need to get ready for this new age of digital information and technology,” said S Iswaran, Singapore’s communications and information minister. Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 14th AMRI conference and related meetings in Singapore, with 10 Asean senior officials in attendance, Mr Iswaran said information has become increasingly accessible on digital platforms, while misinformation has also become prevalent.
He said it is essential to ensure the digital space is safe, reliable and conducive for everyone.
Asean needs to promote social responsibility in online behaviour and minimise the harmful effects of online falsehoods, he said.
The AMRI meeting this year’s theme “Inclusive and Informed Digital Asean”. The meeting adopted a Ministerial Declaration on the Framework to minimise the harmful effects of fake news.
In his speech, Mr Iswaran said Asean needs to structure future work programmes, promote public awareness and educate people to be capable of detecting fake news.
Countries need core values on digital literacy to make the public be responsible for their online activity and dissemination of information. Citizens need to collaborate with the government by reporting any fake news so that the government can ensure clarification.
The region needs to detect and respond to fake news through collaboration among governments, private and organisations, including media for fact-checking, and the creation of norms and guidelines.
World Economic Forum has identified misinformation going viral online as one of the biggest threats to society as fake news seeks to mislead and crowd out the truth.
According to Pew Research Centre Study, 62% of adults in the US get their news on social media.
The meeting yesterday also covered collaboration in cross border co-production of visual and audio content in Asean by offering opportunity for Asean content producers to collaborate and acquire skills in production techniques.
The conference also revised the Digital Video Broadcasting — Second Generation Terrestrial (DVB-T2) technical specifications to ensure that mobile and portable DVB- T2 receivers meet minimum receiver specifications used in Asean, and allow customers to watch TV channels on their mobile and portable devices in Asean via terrestrial transmission. This enables governments to send messages to Asean citizens while on the move.
Kobsak Pootrakul, Thailand’s Prime Minister’s Office minister and vice-chairman of the meeting, said the government needs to respond quickly to fake news by making clarifications via social media.
“Thailand has a Computer Crime Act that works against those who intend to spread fake news online,” Mr Kobsak said.
Heng See Keat, Singapore’s finance minister, said Asean represents the world’s sixth-largest economy and is on track to become the fourth largest by 2030.
The regions economies are forecast to grow annually by 5.2% on average until 2022. This will make the region one of the fastest-growing in the world.
Citing a survey by Google and Temasek, Mr Keat said Asean is the world’s fastest-growing internet region with a user base projected to reach 480 million by 2020 from 260 million in 2016.
Asean’s internet economy made up 2% of the region’s GDP in 2017, and is expected to triple to 6% or US$200 billon (6.41 trillion baht) by 2025.
AMRI plays an important role in leading Asean into the digital age, Mr Keat said.
The conference outlined three goals.
First, growing a digital economy by enabling businesses to use digital technology for innovative products and services. Many countries have master plan for digital economy.
Last year, Asean members committed to enhance data management capabilities of business and encourage data innovation and data flows within digital economy.
The second goal is creating an inclusive digital society by enabling people in Asean access digital world through technical assistance schemes and capacity building.
Thailand’s Digital Economy and Society Ministry sends over 1,000 internet-savvy instructors to serve as digital trainers to people in small villages.
The third is building a trusted digital ecosystem that will support informed people by solving new challenges like fake news.
Source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/telecom/1462678/asean-meeting-targets-blocs-digital-readiness