Shusha, Azerbaijan, hosted the official opening ceremony of the Second Global Media Forum “Exposing False Narratives: Combating Disinformation”.

The dialogue with the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, was an essential part of the event, which included media representatives from more than 50 countries.

Participants’ questions covered a variety of themes. In particular, the UzA correspondent inquired about the Head of state’s vision of the future of the media industry and his opinion regarding the widespread implementation and growing role of neural networks in journalism.

The Leader of Azerbaijan noted that today’s rapidly developing neural networks facilitate work in various fields. On the other hand, they serve as a tool for creating fake news and deepfakes, the victims of which are even top officials of different states and popular personalities. Undoubtedly, this poses a great threat to humanity.

In this regard, the Head of the country emphasized the responsibility and tasks facing media representatives in developing specific proposals and measures to combat such risks on a global scale, calling for interaction within the framework of international structures such as the UN, G20, and others.

Ilham Aliyev’s live conversation with media representatives took place in an open, constructive spirit.

Other events, including the first meeting of the board of the Alliance of Turkic News Agencies (ATNA), are planned for tomorrow.

The forum will feature four panel sessions on “Assessing Impact: Establishing the Scope of Disinformation”, “Policies and Initiatives for Building a More Disinformation-Resilient Society”, “The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Reality, Media, and Disinformation: Promoting Media Literacy”, and “Climate Movement and Media”.

Officials, journalists, representatives of civil society, government agencies, and business structures, delegates from international organizations, and media experts from various countries will exchange opinions and experiences with each other during panel sessions.

Durdona Salikhova, UzA

Shusha, Azerbaijan