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International Regulation on Disinformation: The Case for a Multilateral, Multi-Stakeholder Approach

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2022

Costanza Sciubba Caniglia
Costanza Sciubba Caniglia*
Affiliation:
Special Editor for Commentaries at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government Misinformation Review.
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Extract

Disinformation is not a new phenomenon, and yet it has increased in both impact and scale in the last few years. This is the consequence, mainly, of two contributing factors: technological and geopolitical.

Type
Winning Likes and Minds: Creative Responses to the International Struggle Over Information
Information
Proceedings of the ASIL Annual Meeting , Volume 115 , 2021 , pp. 307 - 310
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The American Society of International Law.

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Footnotes

This panel was convened at 1:45 p.m., Friday, March 26, 2021, by its moderators Robert Blitt of the University of Tennessee College of Law and Jill Goldenziel of the Marine Corps University-Command and Staff College, who introduced the panelists: Faisal Al Mutar of Ideas Beyond Borders; Costanza Sciubba Caniglia of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government; Henning Lahmann of Digital Society Institute, ESMT Berlin; and Priscilla Moriuchi of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

The panel's timeliness was reflected in important developments relating to the ongoing challenge of misinformation and disinformation occurring during the same week as the Annual Meeting. For example, the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Energy and Commerce held a hearing entitled “Disinformation Nation: Social Media's Role in Promoting Extremism and Misinformation.” Also, a second major defamation suit against Fox News was filed by Dominion, the voting machines manufacturer, over disinformation in coverage of the 2020 election. This panel was co-moderated by the Southeast Interest Group's Co-Chairs, Prof. Robert Blitt and Prof. Jill Goldenziel.

The panel's four distinguished speakers brought insights relating to misinformation and disinformation from their respective disciplines, covering public, private, non-profit, and academic sectors: •

• Costanza Sciubba Caniglia, Special Editor for Commentaries at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government Misinformation Review;

•

• Dr. Henning Lahmann, Senior Researcher at the Digital Society Institute, ESMT Berlin;

•

• Faisal Saeed Al Mutar, Founder and President of Ideas Beyond Borders; and

•

• Priscilla Moriuchi, Non-Resident Fellow at the Belfer Center at Harvard.

Through their presentations and the discussion that followed, panelists reflected a uniquely diverse set of experiences and perspectives that facilitated insights into disinformation in the international environment, as well as engagement around appropriate legal and policy responses.

Summaries of panelist remarks are reproduced below.

References

1 Cristian Barbieri, Jean-Pierre Darnis & Carolina Polito, Non-proliferation Regime for Cyber Weapons: A Tentative Study, Istituto Affari Internazionali (2018), available at http://www.iai.it/sites/default/files/iai1803.pdf.

2 Luciano Floridi, The Fight for Digital Sovereignty: What It Is, and Why It Matters, Especially for the EU, 33 Phil. & Tech. 369 (2020).

3 European Commission, Joint Communication to the European Parliament, the European Council, he Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions Action Plan Against Disinformation, JOIN(2018) 36 final (Dec. 5, 2018), available at https://eeas.europa.eu/sites/eeas/files/action_plan_against_disinformation.pdf.

4 Directorate-General CONNECT of the European Commission, The Digital Services Act Package, (Dec. 15, 2020), at https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/digital-services-act-package. The DSA is part of a “regulatory package” that also includes a Digital Markets Act. European Commission, The Digital Markets Act: Ensuring Fair and Open Digital Markets, at https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/europe-fit-digital-age/digital-markets-act-ensuring-fair-and-open-digital-markets_en.

5 James Pamment, The EU's Role in Fighting Disinformation: Taking Back the Initiative, Carnegie Endowment Int'l Peace (July 15, 2020),at https://carnegieendowment.org/2020/07/15/eu-s-role-in-fighting-disinformation-taking-back-initiative-pub-82286.

6 European Commission, Joint Communication to the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, Report on the implementation of the Action Plan Against Disinformation, JOIN(2019) 12 final (June 14, 2019), available at https://eeas.europa.eu/sites/eeas/files/joint_report_on_disinformation.pdf.