Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated in an international discussion on the Internet on Thursday that hate speech, disinformation and cyber extremism must not be allowed to prevent people from enjoying the freedom provided by cyberspace.
“There is no doubt: the digital space has incredible power. But from false information about vaccines to online extremism, we have also seen the threats it may pose to our democratic values, systems, and our citizens,” said T. Rudo said via a video link from Ottawa to the Paris Peace Forum.
“We cannot let the benefits of the digital space come at the expense of people’s rights or safety.”
The forum calls itself an effort to rejuvenate global institutions, and this year it will focus on the huge inequalities exposed by the pandemic.
Attendees included the host, French President Emmanuel Macron, US Vice President Kamala Harris, and Canadian Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne, who also participated in the Artificial Intelligence Conference in the French capital.
Harris stated that the United States is committed to working with its allies to eliminate online terrorist content.
“For the United States, our attitude towards the digital field is rooted in our democratic principles,” she said. “We will continue to advocate an open, secure and interoperable Internet, and work hard to ensure that technology helps rather than harm the people of our world.”
After Trudeau co-founded a new international project with the Global Artificial Intelligence Partnership last year, he is discussing challenges in the digital field in a group.
He pointed out that Canada served as chairman of the partnership last year and was “focused on bringing the international community together to ensure that artificial intelligence respects rights and freedoms and does not harm a democratic society.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Lein delivered a speech during a meeting with US President Joe Biden in Washington.
She said that the EU and the United States have deepened their cooperation on how to make artificial intelligence more “trustworthy” for its users.
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“There is no doubt that artificial intelligence has made our lives better. For example, it can help detect cyber attacks…it can support doctors in making more accurate cancer diagnoses,” von der Leyen said.
“However, in order for people to trust artificial intelligence, we must also manage risk.”
Before his speech, Macron welcomed a masked and isolated room of international politicians and business leaders to a high Paris conference center. Among them was Champagne, one of two Canadian federal ministers traveling in Europe this week, and the French president had a long handshake with them.
Earlier this week, Champagne told the Canadian Press that he plans to formulate a new digital charter after Parliament returns to solve the problems surrounding artificial intelligence and the Internet economy.
Champagne said earlier this week that the technology needs to pay attention to protecting privacy and that the government needs to create an overall framework that reflects Canadian values.
Von der Lein said at the rally that the European Union is working with France to seek to build trust and security in cyberspace.
She said: “In fact, during the pandemic, the Internet has been the lifeblood of millions of companies and the only connection for many of us with our loved ones.”
“However, cyberspace has also become more dangerous. Our critical infrastructure, our democratic process, and even our personal health and safety, including the health and safety of our children, are increasingly threatened.”
Trudeau’s live video speech at the conference also highlighted another challenge that people working through the Internet had to overcome during the pandemic—connection failures that cut you off from the people trying to connect with them.
About three minutes after starting his speech in Ottawa, Trudeau’s screen froze and then was cut off.
The host of the live broadcast who returned to Paris immediately turned to the attendees.
“He seems to be missing. Anyway, thank you very much,” he said, and called on the French crowd to applaud the Canadian Prime Minister-they did.
“This just shows that he is really broadcasting live, we will not show you pre-recorded videos.”
© 2021 Canadian Press
