(Sao Paulo) The leaders of the “Group of 20” agreed on Friday to join forces to combat disinformation and establish an agenda on artificial intelligence.
Meeting this week in Maceio, Brazil, they stressed in a statement the need for digital platforms to be transparent and “compliant with relevant policies and applicable legal frameworks” as governments grapple with the scale and scope of online disinformation and hate speech.
This is the first time in history that the G20 has recognized the problem of disinformation and called for transparency and accountability of digital platforms, said João Brant, the Brazilian government’s secretary of digital policy, in an interview with The Associated Press.
G20 representatives also agreed to establish guidelines for the development of artificial intelligence (AI), calling for “ethical, transparent and responsible use” under human supervision and in compliance with privacy laws and fundamental rights.
“We hope that this will be mentioned in the leaders’ statement and that South Africa will continue the work,” said Renata Mielli, an adviser to Brazil’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. The G20 leaders’ summit is scheduled for November in Rio de Janeiro.
Mme Mielli, Brazil’s negotiator on the AI working group, said some countries, including China and the United States, disagreed, but she declined to elaborate. Ultimately, she said, there was consensus that the world’s richest countries should work together to reduce the global asymmetry in AI development.
This week’s meeting came a day after Brazil banned social network X, ordered by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes after a months-long feud with its owner, Elon Musk.
The billionaire has been at odds with Mr. de Moraes since last year because he is reluctant to block certain users, mainly far-right activists accused of undermining Brazilian democracy. Musk has called the Brazilian judge a dictator and autocrat following his rulings against his companies in Brazil.
Brazil currently holds the presidency of the “Group of 20.” President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has placed issues that concern developing countries – such as reducing inequality and reforming multilateral institutions – at the heart of the agenda.