29 August 2023
The first meeting of the Arab negotiating team tasked with dealing with major digital companies, which will last for two days, kicked off here today.
Ambassador Ahmed Rashid Khattabi, Assistant Secretary-General and Head of the Media and Communication Sector of the League of Arab States, said in his speech during the opening session of the meeting, "This meeting aims to identify the best mechanisms to foresee safe, transparent and fair dealings with major digital companies, in accordance with recognized legal rules, and based on international experiences and models in this regard, especially the European Union, taking into account national legislative systems, whether in terms of tax revenues or preserving Arab media content from hate speech, extremism and abuse." for religions, and materials that violate public morals and civil peace."
In this regard, Khattabi stressed the importance of fairness of content in support of the Palestinian cause and Al-Quds Al-Sharif and preventing distorted uses of historical, geographical, urban and heritage facts related to the Palestinian people and their legitimate cause, stressing that the strategic direction of the Arab media work process aims primarily to protect Arab interests and intensify collective efforts that enhance the active presence in the digital field, and keenness to achieve and ensure digital sovereignty, which has become a vital and indispensable issue in the era of innovation and the technological revolution of communications. reported to States and regional groups.
The Assistant Secretary-General of the League of Arab States expressed the aspiration that the recommendations of this meeting will constitute an opportunity to organize digital services with major digital companies, in a way that contributes to the consolidation of conscious digital citizenship within the framework of a solidarity-based Arab perspective and tight legal controls, pointing out in this regard the need to develop a clear methodological vision based on a harmonious negotiating approach for this negotiating team, whose professional competencies are relied on to speed up the identification of the required executive procedures, in implementation of the directives of the Council of Arab Ministers of Information in this regard. Matter.
It is noteworthy that the formation of the negotiating team in charge of dealing with major digital companies came in implementation of Resolution No. (533) issued by the Council of Arab Ministers of Information during its session (53) held last June in Rabat, Morocco, regarding the adoption of the executive procedures of the unified Arab strategy to deal with international media companies.