Nobel Laureates launched action plan to support journalism and fight disinformation

The two Nobel Peace Prize laureates both talked at the Nobel Peace Center’s Freedom of Expression conference in Oslo Friday, marking almost a year since they were announced as laureates.

Maria Ressa presented the plan, signed by 11 Nobel Prize laureates and more than 90 individuals and organisations, with ten action points to support journalism and end disinformation, hate speech and abuse online.

Ressa called on urgent action:

"The huge potential of technology to advance our societies has been hijacked by Big Tech and a model that deliberately promotes lies, anger and hate in the name of profit. Radical action is needed to detoxify these companies' business model to reclaim the internet for the public good. We need a democratic vision of the internet for the 21st century," Ressa said.

“One antidote to the distortion of facts and the polarisation of debate in society is to support and invest in truly independent media”, Muratov said.

In 10 action points, the new plan calls on the EU, the UN, and rights respecting governments, to build a world in which technology is in service of humanity and where our global public square protects human rights above profits

“The plan demands an end to the surveillance-for-profit business model in tech companies, an end to tech discrimination, and calls for a rebuilding of independent journalism as the antidote to tyranny. This has been high on the agenda for Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov and we are therefore pleased that we could help bring this plan into the world here at the Nobel Peace Center almost a year after they were announced as laureates”, said Nobel Peace Center’s Executive Director Kjersti Fløgstad.