The Council of Europe is participating in the 18th United Nations' Internet Governance Forum (IGF) hosted by the government of Japan from 8 to 12 October in Kyoto and organised under the theme "The Internet We Want - Empowering All People".
In his remarks at the opening of the Forum, Deputy Secretary General Bjørn Berge commended the inclusive approach taken by the IGF when tackling challenges related to internet governance: "That is why we have been so supportive of it from its early days, as the World Summit on Information Society, twenty years ago".
Addressing one of the main current challenges, Mr Berge said: "Artificial Intelligence is a pressing and pertinent example. Harnessing its benefits and mitigating its dangers is a defining challenge of our times".
The Deputy Secretary General also took part in an event focusing on the challenges to human rights and democratic values posed by the increasing use of artificial intelligence technologies:
"The Council of Europe is currently developing a far-reaching and first-of-its-kind framework convention, that will define a set of fundamental principles to help safeguard Human Rights, rule of law and democratic principles in AI. We are also working on a set of new guidelines on countering the spread of online mis- and disinformation through fact-checking and platform design solutions", he said.
The Deputy Secretary General´s schedule includes meetings with Takuo Komori, Parliamentary Vice Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan; Mito Kakizawa, State Minister of Justice of Japan; Youichi Fukazawa, Parliamentary Vice-Minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan; Kimitake Nakamura, Deputy Assistant Minister for European Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan; and Danko Jevtovic, Vice Chair of the Board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
Council of Europe at the 2023 IGF
