Media regulation and content moderation is a topical debate that players in the media sector and journalism professionals are engaging in globally in the changing media landscape.
While attempts to discredit the media are increasing because many people can access information including chunks of information that have no integrity perpetuated by pseudo-journalists and content creators, many people are concerned about the threat to responsible and professional journalism.
People want credible media platforms and outlets to share factual news by legitimate media practitioners even as they weave through the current infodemic, which has raised the need to have honest discussions on approaches to media regulation and content moderation.
The media and communication sector has more players who are not necessarily professional journalists guided by credible professional ethical standards.
They include tech companies who have community rules, content creators and digital platform users, thus any form of regulation must acknowledge these changed dynamics-calls for new ways of media regulations and content moderation- not just because of protection of the public against harmful content but more importantly to allow access to credible information by citizens.
Players in the media and communication sector are certain that changes are happening in the sector, some regulatory mechanisms are needed and the media sphere as a protector of the public interest has changed drastically.
Notably, such factors as the onset of innovative technologies and new media, the strengthening of the democratic culture, demands for accountability, the need for access to credible information in the face of an infodemic, overbearing overtures by political leaders and the realisation that media profession requires adaptive credible reporting standards.
As new technologies come into use and as societal expectations about media content react to the new technologies the authority and jurisdiction of regulatory bodies are constantly being reorganized.
Of note is the convergence of traditional mass media with newer personal media.
Traditionally, telephony and electronic media have been regulated by separate government-related agencies.
Increasingly, however, the technologies of computer, television, radio, satellite and cable are interlocking with each other in the delivery of content to different audiences, resulting in an increasing shift across countries to regulate all technologies under the same agency.
There is a global trend towards the repositioning of government regulatory agencies as "independent" regulatory bodies.
Such bodies are meant to be less vulnerable to direct political and governmental control, and instead be more inclined towards principles outlined in legislative and constitutional law.
The media space has expanded, and people have more access to media content, produced locally and globally,
Given the situation, there is a great need to understand how the content including media is generated, composed, and distributed through focused media and information literacy activities, that will help people especially the youth to appreciate the values and morals behind information production and by extension need for a coalition of interests to try the co-regulation model of media regulation and content moderation.
People, especially the youth are inundated with information from all over that they need to make sense of. For the changing needs of regulation, citizens need sufficient skills to enable them to engage with media content and information responsibly.
Self-regulation requires that people have the skills and education and by extension the cross-professional representation including from government and civil society on responsible use of information – which calls for global efforts to create mainstream Media Information Literacy across the education system, both informal and formal to ensure that people are exposed to skills relating to their understanding of media and information processing.
Through well-funded and functional MIL policies, stakeholders involved in education, information, training and other technologies of communication should incorporate MIL in their programs with the overall aim being to inculcate in the citizens' knowledge, attitudes, skills, and practices that can be applied in accessing, analyzing, evaluating, using, producing and communicating information and knowledge in creative, legal and ethical ways that respect human rights.
Re-looking at media regulation and content moderation given the fast-changing information environment that is growing both in terms of information gathering, storage, dissemination, and use is critical. Media provides a measure of how democratic a society is and measures the heartbeat of that society.
Individuals in a society need information to enable them to make critical decisions that enhance democracy and cope with their reality.
While media is immensely useful in supplementing the democratic process, it is noteworthy too that it can be a destructive tool through its dysfunctional function.
In its dysfunctional role, media, rather than present the full picture of an event, an episode, or a trend in society does, instead, package and frame an event only partially and presents that partiality as if it is the whole truth.
Kenya has already developed a MIL policy and country strategy with the support of UNESCO, and the pilot by the Media Council of Kenya through youth MIL activities in formal education skills and with public drawn from the civil society and political leaders and Rongo University which has adopted a MIL curriculum. Results are encouraging, and MIL seems destined to be the main activity that will drive media self or co-regulation globally in addition to the various efforts at media viability interventions that are the foundation of free, independent and responsible media.
Victor Bwire is the Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Programmes Manager at the Media Council of Kenya