IPIE Calls for Transparency and Stronger Protections Against Disinformation Bots among its Recommendations on Information Integrity to the OECD

December 2024

The International Panel on the Information Environment (IPIE) has made a submission to the OECD on its Draft Recommendation on Information Integrity. As part of the OECD’s public consultation process, the IPIE has outlined key recommendations aimed at strengthening the global information environment and promoting transparency, accountability, and resilience.

The submission emphasizes the critical need for transparency and independent research on digital platforms. Among the recommendations is a call for platforms to conduct and publish research using established scientific methods, while also ensuring equitable access for researchers, particularly from the Global South. The IPIE also advocates for greater transparency regarding algorithmic recommendation systems and content moderation processes, as well as stronger protections against disinformation spread by bots and inauthentic accounts.

The IPIE’s recommendations are summarized as follows:

• Online information platforms should be required to conduct and publish research, using established and open scientific methods and processes.

• Online information platforms should allow access to independent researchers to conduct and publish research on platform designs, algorithmic recommendation systems, and content moderation procedures, and to ensure equitable access for researchers in the Global South.

• Transparency about algorithm systems, content moderation procedures and enforcement actions should be a requirement of regulatory oversight and cooperation between governments.

• Innovative models for funding independent media, and the established and open scientific methods and processes for validating research on online information platforms, should be promoted.

• Actions to prevent the spread of disinformation should not be restricted to malicious actors, deceptive actions, or large platforms.

• Governments and regulators should be encouraged to take enforcement actions against bots and inauthentic accounts found to be spreading disinformation.

• More stringent industry standards should be encouraged for traceable marks to engender trust in AI-generated content. 

“Information integrity is a cornerstone of democratic societies,” said Dr. Ann Kristin Glenster, the author of the IPIE submission. “Our recommendations to the OECD emphasize the importance of ensuring that digital platforms, governments, and researchers work collaboratively to promote openness and scientific rigor in addressing the complex challenges of today's information environment.”

Professor Philip Howard, President of the IPIE, added: “As the technologies evolve, so too must our approaches to safeguarding integrity of information. The IPIE’s recommendations provide clear guidelines on how to build technology infrastructure that supports a healthy global information environment.”

‍

For more information please contact Kathryn Chapman at Kathryn.Chapman@IPIE.info or Press@IPIE.info.

About the IPIE

The International Panel on the Information Environment (IPIE) is an independent and global science organization providing scientific knowledge about the health of the world's information environment. Based in Switzerland, the IPIE offers policymakers, industry, and civil society actionable scientific assessments about threats to the information environment, including AI bias, algorithmic manipulation, and disinformation. The IPIE is the only scientific body systematically organizing, evaluating, and elevating research with the broad aim of improving the global information environment. Hundreds of researchers worldwide contribute to the IPIE's reports.