At the Belt and Road Journalists Forum in Ganzhou, China, media representatives from low- and middle-income countries asked a Chinese journalist group for help to counterfake news created by artificial intelligence. Participants warned that AI-generated content can inflame political and religious tensions and therefore harm social stability in their countries. The annual forum, organised by the All-China Journalists Association, attracted over 100 delegates from more than 50 countries.
Delegates asked the group to pressure technology platforms to act, with a priority on consistent labelling of AI-produced material across services such as Facebook. Aditta Kittikhoun, a representative of the Laos Journalists’ Association and co-founder of the RDK Group, said on 18 July that her country has not yet seen the promised labelling in practice. Meta announced last year that it would start to label AI-generated content across Facebook and Instagram.
A report by Meta’s oversight board in June said the company’s enforcement of the policy was inconsistent and urged that labels be available in local languages. Participants also suggested other measures: verified marks for reputable content, limiting the reach of publishers who break community guidelines, and creating databases of national news agencies. One proposal was that the Belt and Road Initiative could register agencies across its over 150 member countries to help share positive news. SciDev.Net emailed Meta for comment but had received no reply by the time of publishing.
Difficult words
- artificial intelligence — Computer systems that can perform smart tasks
- inflame — Make strong negative feelings worse
- stability — Condition of steady, safe social order
- label — Mark information as produced by AIlabelling
- enforcement — Actions to make rules followed
- inconsistent — Not done the same way every time
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- What challenges might low- and middle-income countries face when AI-generated fake news spreads in their societies?
- Do you think consistent labelling of AI-produced content across platforms is enough to reduce harm? Why or why not?
- How could registering national news agencies across member countries help share positive news, and what problems could that cause?
