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UAE chairs meeting of Arab Committee for Electronic Media

UAE chairs meeting of Arab Committee for Electronic Media

13 October 2024

United Arab Emirates, 16 October 2024: The  twenty-first meeting of the Arab Committee for Electronic Media was concluded under the chairmanship of the United Arab Emirates, in the presence of Ambassador Ahmed Rashid Khattabi, Assistant Secretary-General and Head of the Media and Communication Sector of the League of Arab States, Director of the Technical Department of the Council of Arab Ministers of Information, Minister Plenipotentiary Faleh Al-Mutairi, and the participation of representatives of Arab media concerned with electronic media, at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States.

Her Excellency Maitha Majed Al Suwaidi, Executive Director of the Media Strategy and Policy Sector at the Emirates Media Council, stressed  the importance of holding the meeting of the Arab Committee for Electronic Media at this time of unprecedented radical transformations in the electronic media sector, as the world is living a  new era  in which technological development is accelerating at a tremendous pace, which poses new challenges and creates huge opportunities.

Her Excellency pointed out that this great speed in digital transformation requires Arab countries to stand seriously at these variables, and work to develop comprehensive plans and strategies aimed at regulating this growing sector, explaining the  need for joint Arab cooperation to develop legislative frameworks capable of keeping pace with this speed, in a way that ensures the exploitation of these modern technologies in the service of Arab media and enhance its presence on the global stage, and confront Challenges related to cybersecurity and fake news, and the development of flexible policies that promote innovation and protect society from harmful content.

Ambassador Ahmed Rashid Khattabi, Assistant Secretary-General and Head of the Media and Communication Sector of the League of Arab States , said during his speech at the opening of the meeting that this session is held within the framework of the follow-up and implementation of Resolution No. 547 issued by the 54th ordinary session of the Council of Arab Ministers of Information in the Kingdom of Bahrain, including inviting the United Arab Emirates, through the Emirates Media Council, to design and launch a website for the Arab Committee for Electronic Media by the end of 2024 with the organization of training courses for candidates of member states on the measure of This site.

He stated that this website is subject to the principles and controls specified in the code of conduct adopted by the Council of Arab Ministers of Information during the aforementioned session, which aims to enhance the Arab media presence in the digital space in a commitment to the spiritual, moral and cultural values of our Arab societies and to ensure that the national sovereignty of member states is not violated.

Khattabi explained that the principles stipulated in the code of conduct are based on two basic principles, namely the social responsibility of electronic media and achieving the public interest of member states, as well as clear standards of accuracy, credibility, neutrality and integrity within the scope of content that reflects the values of tolerance and ethnic, religious and cultural pluralism away from any form of discrimination and hatred, as well as taking into account the media content of vulnerable groups.

He praised the effective role of the United Arab Emirates in advancing joint Arab cooperation, especially in the field of media and communication, including the appreciated efforts of the Emirates Media Council to prepare the draft website.

The meeting discussed the efforts of the United Arab Emirates in designing and launching a new website for the countries represented in the Arab Committee for Electronic Media, with the aim of expanding the scope of its news, sharing and exchanging knowledge and experiences, in addition to reviewing the experience of the New Media Academy in the UAE and the most prominent achievements it has achieved during the past years.  and games and esports.