Brazil and Chile sign memorandum to tackle misinformation and digital inequality

Countries to exchange insights on public policies and regulation to combat climate change fake news and address AI challenges The governments of Brazil and Chile signed a memorandum of understanding on Tuesday to strengthen joint actions for information integrity. This marks the first agreement of its kind with a South American country. G20 Social: Final statement advocates taxing the ultra-wealthy and condemns far-right misinformation Fun in Rio: 20 paired activities for the G20 holiday weekend in Rio de Janeiro The initiative aims for both countries to share knowledge on public policies and regulations to combat misinformation phenomena (especially regarding climate change) and digital inequality, including discussions on the new challenges posed by artificial intelligence. The memorandum was signed during the G20 summit (a group of the world's top 20 economies) in Rio, by Brazil's Minister of the Presidency's Social Communication Secretariat, Paulo Pimenta, and Chile's Minister of the General Secretariat of Government, Camila Vallejo. According to Paulo Pimenta, Brazil has been partnering with various countries, such as Denmark and the United Kingdom, but the partnership with Chile is unprecedented as it is the first in South America: — Chile has been debating this topic within society. This cooperation we are establishing today holds unique importance for the government, and we can envision other initiatives stemming from it, which can advance sensitive and pressing issues — he commented. Climate change was deemed a crucial axis in the countries' information integrity effort, as it is, according to Pimenta, a topic prone to misinformation. Information integrity on climate The minister further assessed that the agreement between Chile and Brazil aligns with the G20's efforts, under Brazil's presidency this year, to launch a global initiative for information integrity on climate change. The project will be launched today at the G20 by Brazil, the UN, and UNESCO. Countries involved include Chile, Denmark, France, Morocco, and the United Kingdom. — We will have an important moment on this topic today. We consider this a legacy of Brazil's presidency in the G20, and we already have the support of various countries and multilateral organizations to devise a strategy to combat misinformation on climate issues. Artificial intelligence The advancement of artificial intelligence was another highlight of the memorandum. Brazil and Chile will jointly discuss inclusive approaches to leverage the benefits of this new technology. For Pimenta, the rise of AI introduces new, more sophisticated, and simultaneously more challenging elements to building information integrity, which is closely tied to democracy. — Just as during election campaign periods, misinformation takes root in other fertile grounds to rapidly multiply this type of narrative, such as during crises and discussions on climate change — he added. The translation of this text into english was carried out by Project Irineu, O GLOBO's initiative to develop artificial intelligence tools. Here is the link to the original report.