The National Audiovisual Regulatory Council (Senegal) already serves as vice-president, since the previous meetings held in October 2022 in Paris, for the seventh edition of the said Conference. The Dakar meeting will be an opportunity for French-speaking Media Regulators to discuss institutional and technical means of containing a phenomenon that threatens security and social cohesion in different parts of the world.
Social networks reinforced by digital technology are made more difficult to regulate, while they provide resources for manipulation and disinformation. Violent and hateful content spreads at rates where traditional means are no longer sufficient to limit the perverse effects among populations that are very susceptible to Deep fake.
There are enormous risks of destabilizing countries through the pollution of intercommunity relations. Such practices, we note in the terms of reference of the Dakar meetings, “can be a source of drama with immeasurable consequences”. Also, it is urgent to think about “the implementation of common strategies and mechanisms to cope”. The Conference of Presidents of the French-speaking Network of Media Regulators will endeavor to do this, “in continuation of the work undertaken” since the last edition held in the French capital.
According to the press release, the objective is to “contribute, on the one hand, to the implementation of regulation adapted to digital players”, on the other hand, “to the expression of cultural diversity and to the fair remuneration of creation.” In Dakar, the regulatory authorities will address, among other points, the session relating to the fight against piracy.
-The work of the eighth Conference of REFRAM Presidents will also focus on experiences in the regulation of digital platforms and on the mechanisms and tools for effective regulation of said platforms.
The thematic General Assembly will be held in plenary and behind closed doors, depending on the purpose, in particular the adoption of the 2025-2027 roadmap. The end of the work is scheduled for Tuesday January 28, 2025, in the afternoon.
