European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins RSF’s AI Charter in media project
The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the Association of Commercial Television and Video on Demand Services in Europe (ACT) have joined the project launched by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) to develop a charter aimed at regulating the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the media.
A total of 18 media sector organisations are now partners in RSF’s “AI Charter in media” project, which aims to defend the integrity of news and information in the artificial intelligence era.
A union federation representing journalists at the European level, the EFJ has more than 320,000 members spread across 75 unions and associations in 45 countries. Since 1994, it has promoted and defended the independence of journalists and defended journalistic pluralism and ethics, and freedom of expression and information.
Another European organisation joins the charter partners. The ACT represents the interests of leading commercial broadcasters in 37 European countries, who collectively operate thousands of TV channels and video-on-demand services.
“Bringing together representatives of the entire news production and dissemination chain around the discussion table is essential in order to have a global understanding of the issues and establish ethical standards that impact the news and information system as a whole. That two very different European organisations are joining our project is an extremely positive sign regarding the ability of the media, and particularly journalists, to take joint action and move in the same direction in response to the challenges posed by artificial intelligence.”
Christophe Deloire
RSF secretary-general
“We certainly share the same urgency of the journalists, organisations, academics and other media stakeholders to react to the opportunities and risks posed by AI technologies. While algorithms and other automated processes are developing, journalistic ethics, transparency and copyright must be strengthened. The future guidelines should support journalists and media outlets towards this end, and we are happy to contribute to this important discussion.”
Renate Schroeder
EFJ director
The Thomson Foundation, an international non-profit organisation that trains journalists and contributes to the development of media worldwide, also joins the list of partners.
The RSF-initiated AI Charter in media project aims to develop an ethical framework for the use of artificial intelligence in the media with the help of an international committee chaired by journalist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa and composed of 31 distinguished persons of 18 different nationalities from the worlds of journalism and research.
The committee identified the charter’s founding principles at its first working meeting on August 22. These principles will be developed in subsequent meetings in order to produce a detailed document that can be used within news organisations.
