World Telecommunication and Information Society Day

AI is reshaping the way the  United Nations  serves people and planet. The projects highlighted in this annual report reflect our shared conviction that #AIforGood is no longer a distant aspiration; it is a present-day imperative within and beyond the United Nations. Explore how to leverage the potential of AI to advance #GlobalGoals in this new compendium of #AIforGood use cases, projects and initiatives

  The 5 principles for Information Integrity are: Societal trust and resilience Healthy incentives  Public empowerment  Independent,free and pluralistic media  Transparency and research  Learn more about the  United Nations Global Principles on Information Integrity .

Trust , in this context, refers to  The confidence that people have in the sources and reliability of the information that they access , including official sources and information, and in the mechanisms that allow information to flow throughout the ecosystem. Resilience refers to   The ability of societies to handle disruptions or manipulative actions within the information ecosystem . Trust and resilience are vulnerable to actions driven by State and non-State actors who seek to exploit the information ecosystem for strategic, political or financial gain. These actions, at times widely coordinated, can result in a range of harms and jeopardize people’s ability to critically assess science and facts. Large technology companies hold significant power in the information ecosystem and exercise inordinate influence over the manner in which stakeholders, including other businesses, advertisers, news media and individual users, interact with and access information. Advances in ar...

Creating healthy incentives involves addressing the critical implications for  information ecosystem  integrity resulting from current business models, which depend on targeted advertising and other forms of content monetization as the dominant means of revenue generation . These models have provided unprecedented growth opportunities for businesses of all sizes, foremost the technology companies that own and operate digital platforms , and have given rise to a creator economy powered by and benefiting countless people. These models have also enabled financial incentives and opportunities for purveyors of disinformation and hate who exploit the attention economy in which technology companies track user behaviour to collect data, feeding algorithms that prioritize engagement in a bid to maximize potential revenue for advertisers and creators . Messaging designed to polarize and produce strong emotions is often that which generates the most engagement, with the result that alg...

  Empowerment for individuals navigating the information ecosystem demands that people have control over their online experience, can make informed decisions as to the media that they choose to consume and can express themselves freely. Public empowerment requires consistent access to diverse and reliable sources of information.   Digital spaces have in many ways served as catalysts for inclusive participation in public life, connecting people across geographical boundaries with shared aspirations for progress. When harnessed for good, these spaces can help empower individuals and give agency to those who are often excluded and marginalized . At the same. time, digital technologies can hinder genuine empowerment. Individuals frequently have little control over how their personal data are used , or over algorithmic content personalized by large technologycompanies , and face obstacles from information providers to understanding and accessing the criteria and mechanisms us...

  The ITU is actively working to close the digital divide through initiatives like the Connecting Humanity Action Blueprint, a 2025 strategy with Saudi Arabia to provide universal, meaningful internet access by 2030, requiring $2.6-2.8 trillion investment in infrastructure, affordability, and skills. They also run the Partner2Connect Coalition, mobilizing resources for hard-to-connect regions, and focus on innovation, digital literacy, and international cooperation to ensure inclusive access, tackling gaps in connectivity, skills, and affordability to empower everyone. Connect all people, schools and hospitals to the Internet Make digital technologies more accessible and affordable to everyone , including in diverse languages and formats Increase investment in Digital public goods and Digital public infrastructure Support women and youth innovators and small and medium enterprises  ( SMEs )

The United Nations's engagement with the digital space focuses on making it open, safe, inclusive, and rights-respecting, addressing issues from the digital divide to AI governance through initiatives like the Global Digital Compact and the Secretary-General's Roadmap for Digital Cooperation , aiming for universal connectivity, digital inclusion, human rights protection (especially for women/girls), and better international cooperation on technology for sustainable development.    Initiatives & Goals :  Global Digital Compact (GDC) : A negotiated agreement for Member States to ensure an open, free, safe, and secure digital future, upholding human rights and international law online. Roadmap for Digital Cooperation : A framework for action on connectivity, digital public goods, inclusion, capacity building, AI , security, and governance. UN 2.0 : An internal effort to transform UN operations and improve service delivery through digital tools, collaboration, and data....

  AI governance refers to the policies, standards, and processes ensuring AI systems are developed and used safely, ethically, and responsibly, addressing risks like bias, privacy, and misuse while fostering innovation by setting rules for transparency, fairness, and accountability across the AI lifecycle, involving developers, users, and policymakers. Key frameworks include the EU AI Act and ISO standards , focusing on risk-based approaches, continuous assessment, and human oversight to align AI with human values and regulations. Core Principles Fairness & Bias Mitigation : Preventing discrimination and ensuring equitable outcomes. Transparency & Explainability : Understanding how AI makes decisions. Accountability : Assigning responsibility for AI outcomes. Privacy & Security : Protecting data and systems. Human Oversight : Maintaining human control over critical AI functions. Key Components Risk Management : Identifying, assessing, and mitigating potential ...

The United Nations conducted wide-ranging and diverse consultations on information integrity across all regions with its Member States , civil society, including youth-led organizations, media, academia and private sector representatives. Stakeholders spoke through country-level discussions, virtual sessions, bilateral meetings and via a globally disseminated public online form. These consultations highlighted a demand for unifying recommendations that are applicable across all geographies and contexts and that address the requirements of all individuals, in particular attending to the needs of groups in situations of vulnerability and marginalization. In response, the United Nations Global Principles forInformation Integrity offer a holistic framework to guide multi-stakeholder action for a healthier information ecosystem. This framework consists of five principles for strengthening information integrity , each of which include recommendations for key stakeholder groups. The princi...

   A free press underpins the rule of law and serves as a cornerstone of democratic societies, enabling an informed civic discourse, holding power to account and protecting human rights. The press can be considered free wherever journalists and media workers—including women and those in vulnerable and marginalized situations—are consistently at liberty to report and operate safely and openly, and all individuals have consistent access to pluralistic and reliable sources of news. The media have a particular role and responsibility in providing reliable and accurate information and mitigating risks to information spaces. However, press freedom faces significant and sustained threats around the world despite the right to freedom of expression, including free, uncensored and unhindered press or other media. Media workers face online and offline harassment, threats and violence, leading at times to self-censorship and heightening professional risk. At the same time, the news ...

  Efforts to strengthen information integrity are crucial to preserve and further advance the Sustainable Development Goals . Erosion of the integrity of the information ecosystem can worsen existing vulnerabilities in achieving the Goals, in particular for countries in the global South. Groups in situations of vulnerability and marginalization are disproportionately affected. The participation of greater numbers of women in the global workforce, for instance, is vital to achieve the Goals . However, in addition to discriminatory laws and policies that exist in many countries, gender-based hate speech, disinformation and violence are used to systematically subjugate women by silencing and pushing them out of the public sphere. This can have devastating and long-lasting consequences for women’s participation, suppressing women’s voices and fuelling self-censorship, causing professional and reputational damage and jeopardizing hard-won progress in gender equality. Efforts to expl...

  Technological advances have in a few short decades revolutionized communications, connecting individuals and communities on a previously unthinkable scale and presenting unparalleled opportunities for the diffusion of knowledge, cultural enrichment and sustainable development. They have in many ways raised ambitions for the integrity of the information ecosystem—where freedom of expression is fully enjoyed and where accurate, reliable information, free from discrimination and hate, is available to all in an open, inclusive, safe and secure information environment . While these advances have enabled the mass dissemination of information, they have also facilitated the spread of misinformation, disinformation and hate speech by many kinds of actors at historically unprecedented volume, velocity and virality, risking the integrity of the information ecosystem . Such risks encompass a range of current, emergent and future threats amid rapid breakthroughs in artificial intelligence t...