More action needed to tackle disinformation and enhance transparency of online platforms ...

04/03/2024 - As roughly half the world's population prepares to vote in elections, a new OECD report offers the first baseline assessment of how OECD countries are upgrading their governance measures to support an environment where reliable information can thrive, prioritising freedom of expression and human rights, and sets out a policy framework for countries to address the global challenge of disinformation.

Facts not fakes: Tackling disinformation, strengthening information integrity emphasises the need for democracies to champion diverse, high-quality information spaces that support freedom of opinion and expression, along with policies that may be utilised to increase the degree of accountability and transparency of online platforms.

Rising disinformation has far-reaching consequences in many policy areas ranging from public health to national security. It can cast doubt on factual evidence, jeopardise the implementation of public policies and undermine people's trust in the integrity of democratic institutions. This report explores how to respond to these challenges and reinforce democracy. It presents an analytical framework to guide countries in the design of policies, looking at three complementary dimensions: implementing policies to enhance the transparency, accountability, and plurality of information sources; fostering societal resilience to disinformation; and upgrading governance measures and public institutions to uphold the integrity of the information space.

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The report details specific risks, including the spread of disinformation during electoral periods, foreign information manipulation and interference campaigns, and the implications of generative artificial intelligence. Based in part on a survey of 23 OECD countries, the report includes case studies and provides recommendations on how governments can play a positive but not intrusive role in this area. It reveals that national strategies for tackling disinformation remain the exception rather than the rule.

“Tackling disinformation must never be about controlling information. We need a sound, appropriately well-balanced policy approach to ensure citizens have the benefit of an open and robust information environment in which they can debate freely and build consensus. Free, open and robust debate is fundamental to tackling the complex policy challenges of our time,” OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann said. “No single democracy can solve the problem of rising disinformation on its own, but every democracy can support independent and diverse journalism, encourage accountability and transparency of online platforms, and help build citizens’ media literacy to encourage critical consumption of content, to address the challenge of disinformation and its corrosive effect on trust.”

As a key pillar of the OECD’s Reinforcing Democracy Initiative, the report presents a policy framework to strengthen information integrity that encourages action across societies, in three areas:

• Enhance the transparency, accountability, and plurality of information sources, including through a diverse and independent media sector as well as better functioning online platforms.
  
  
• Strengthen media literacy and critical thinking skills to enable citizens to recognise, combat and limit the spread of disinformation.
  
  
• Bolster strategic co-ordination, training, and technological infrastructure in government, as well as peer-learning and co-operation among governments to combat disinformation.

For more information on the OECD’s work on mis- and disinformation, visit the

OECD DIS/MIS Resource hub online.