Description:

Since the beginning of 2020, the Covid-19 epidemic has been spreading globally. On January 30th, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the situation as a global public health emergency, which drew a wave of media coverage and various debates across the globe. Simultaneously, online dis-/mis-/mal-information and media ethics are also in the spotlight with regard to providing essential information, professionalism, and responsibility of social media in the emergent communication during a public health crisis. “We’re not just fighting an epidemic; we’re fighting an infodemic,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) at a gathering of foreign policy and security experts in Munich, Germany, in mid- February 2020. Infodemics are an excessive amount of information about a problem, which prevents a meaningful and balanced discussion to understand it better and look for possible solutions in various areas. They can spread misinformation, disinformation, and rumors during a health emergency, for example, that 5G radiation is causing the disease. Infodemics can hamper an effective public health response and create confusion and distrust among people. In response, according to news reports, search and media companies like Facebook, Google, Tencent, Sina Weibo, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube are aggressively filtering out unfounded medical advice, hoaxes, and other false information that they say could risk public health. At the same time, because they cannot rely on their human content moderators and use automated machine learning processes for content moderation they are also filtering out essential information like people creating DIY face-masks. Other actors are also seeking measures to counter the spread of rumors, A series of questions regarding the roles of both legacy and digital media, platforms, public, governments, and technology are captured by wide attention in the coronavirus outbreak crisis including • how did social media and digital platform report and present the outbreak and interact with the public? What is the impact of them on the public trust and free flow of information? Should media and technology companies be the only stakeholders invited to the decision-making table? • How can we tackle structural inequalities in societies (around gender, race, socio-economic status, ableism) that prevent specific groups of people to participate, engage and understand this pandemic? What types of digital skills, critical understanding, and proactive practices can be developed to empower citizens to better understand the pandemic and establish a trust relationship with governments and news media? • How did the general public participate in the online discussion, such as expressing individual experiences and sharing stories on social media? What kinds of data literacies do people from various backgrounds need to participate in a meaningful debate on the topic as well as tackle disinformation? What are the impact of them on the public trust and free flow of information? • What are the responsibilities of digital platforms and public authorities in regulating or policing content during the public health crisis, and where and how should the balance be struck between freedom of expression, privacy, and public safety? • What kinds of collaboration between Internet platforms, academics, civil society, and media outlets could work to fight online disinformation, fake news, and hate speech? • The proliferation of disinformation and misinformation poses threats to the integrity of journalism and the decisions that people make based on that information in face of Covid-19 crisis. How can technology, academics, civil societies, and journalists play a role in tackling them and restoring trust? Underpinning these questions is a holistic critique towards the capacity of social media, digital platform, and governance system in responding to such a public health emergency, in particular arguing that this is a social issue that cannot rely exclusively on technological solutions. We also put forward that there is a need for a critical re-evaluation of media and data literacy education tailored for different groups of society, as well as developing ethical principles and regulatory laws of social media and digital platforms. Combing both local and global perspectives on internet governance and media communication during a public crisis, this workshop aims to build an international platform for experts, scholars, policymakers, and practitioners from relevant fields to jointly discuss the above important and timely issues on an interdisciplinary and multi-dimensional approaches. Speakers and moderators from China, Europe, India, and Singapore will discuss the above questions from diverse geographic and stakeholder perspectives. 

Speakers:

• Professor Yun Long:                          Director of Digital Ethics Institute, Communication University of China; Chair of the Digital Communication Ethics Division, Chinese Society for Science and Technology Journalism
• Mr. Shu Wang:                                     Deputy Chief Editor, Sina Weibo, China 
• Ms. Amrita Choudhury:                      Director of CCAOI, India
• Professor Ang Peng Hwa:                  Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore   
• Dr Ansgar Koene:                                Horizon Digital Economy  Research Institue, University of Nottingham, UK
• Dr Elinor Carmi:                                   Department of Communication and Media, University of Liverpool

Moderators: 

• Dr. Yik Chan Chin                                  Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University 
• Mr. Kuo-Wei Wu                                    APNIC 
• Mr. Weinan Yuan                                   XJTLU