Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in partnership with 16 other organisations on November 10, 2023 launched the inaugural Charter on AI and Journalism, which coincided with the Paris Peace Forum in France.
The Charter is a culmination of a series of meetings over a period of four months by a global committee of 32 prominent persons from 20 different countries. Journalist, Maria Ressa, the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, chaired the committee meeting.
AFEX members, Dr Tabani Moyo, who is the IFEX Convenor and Regional Director for the Media Institute for Southern Africa (MISA), and Dr Wakabi Wairagala, the Executive Director for Collaboration on ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), were part of the 32-member committee.
The charter defines 10 critical principles that are foundational for journalism to thrive in the age of AI, which include but are not limited to:
- Ethics must govern technological choices within the media.
- Human agency must remain central in editorial decisions.
- The media must help society to distinguish between authentic and synthetic content with confidence.
- The media must participate in global AI governance and defend the viability of journalism when negotiating with tech companies.
