On September 15, 2020, the second session of the cycle of online meetings entitled “Conversations in time of a pandemic” was held. It was organized by the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) and the topic discussed was “The right to privacy in the digital age and disinformation”.

This session was presented by the President of the NHRC, Ms. Teresa Ribeiro, which is also the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, and had as speakers the Minister of Justice, Ms. Francisca van Dunem (through recorded message), Professor Gustavo Cardoso (ISCTE - University Institute of Lisbon) and the lawyer João Marecos (coauthor of the online page "Os Truques da Imprensa Portuguesa"). The webinar was moderated by the journalist Paulo Pena, from the European consortium Investigate Europe.

Videos of the Vice-President of the European Commission, Vera Jourová, who oversees the Values and Transparency portfolios, and of the Director of the OECD's Department of Science, Technology and Innovation, Andrew W. Wyckoff, were also shown, recorded especially for the occasion.

 

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The session began with the intervention of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, who recalled that, in order to face the new coronavirus and try to limit its spread, the Government had to adopt containment and confinement measures that, in some way, conditioned the full enjoyment of human rights, including economic, social and cultural rights.

Ms. Teresa Ribeiro also said that, in this context, digital technology had taken on an extremely relevant role in trying to alleviate the limitations that this pandemic ended up imposing on the daily lives of citizens, the action of States and the functioning of societies in their whole.

In this context, she recalled that some of these resources were part of the comprehensive measures adopted by the Portuguese Government, with emphasis on the document “Portugal and the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in Times of the COVID-19 Pandemic”, where most of these measures were compiled and systematized. This document, whose preparation was coordinated by the NHRC, is available for consultation, in Portuguese and English, at direitoshumanos.mne.pt.

She also stressed that the vulnerability of users increased in the same proportion as technological innovation, especially in relation to the potential threats to privacy and intimacy, with cases of violation or breach of confidentiality of communications or data being recurrent.

In her intervention (by video), the Minister of Justice addressed the concept of the right to privacy and the extent to which the pandemic would increase the vulnerability of the system, when faced with the action of "predators" of personal data.

 

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Ms. Francisca van Dunem recalled that the regulation on the right to the protection of personal data in Portugal predates that of the European Union and that, at this moment, the General Data Protection Regulation is in force, which aims to give citizens control of the information that concerns them.

However, she considered that “digital illiteracy” unprotects citizens in terms of preserving their privacy and, ultimately, their freedom. She added that the Internet, despite its multiple benefits, also functions as a platform from which false news is propagated, often generated by false profiles and without social control.

She ended by saying that hate speech theorists claim that they too have the right to express their freedom, but that this production of content spreads fear and oppresses the freedoms of others.

Then, the Professor of Communication Sciences at ISCTE-IUL, Mr. Gustavo Cardoso, considered that privacy is seen differently by users as there is a great distrust of citizens in relation to the State's performance regarding the security of personal data that is provided for official purposes and the same logic does not apply to private entities.

He said that, historically, disinformation was associated with the so-called cold war, but that, as an autonomous phenomenon, made clearer since the beginning of the pandemic, it is being associated with fear, the need to transmit information first hand and get news quickly.

The way in which communication is carried out has also changed, with the use of audio and encrypted networks (such as WhatsApp) being preferred.

In short, it will be necessary to invest in education, making the individuals responsible for their action, given that social networks are neutral. They only amplify the rumours and the (false) information that used to only circulate in the neighbourhood of each one.

The lawyer João Marecos pointed out that “fake news” becomes particularly interesting for the media, since they cause immediate reactions in readers / listeners, increasing the number of clicks online, which generates the profit of companies through advertising, as opposed to the decrease in readers of printed newspapers.

He considered that, in this new way of communication, each citizen is no longer a passive actor in the news, but that, through sharing, it becomes an active link in this chain, being equally responsible for its quality.

He added that “we all have to be apprentices of journalists”, in order to make each one co-responsible for the quality of the information he transmits. In this context, this type of training could be part of the school curriculum and lifelong learning, as a means of promoting digital literacy. He stressed the importance of knowing how to differentiate wrong information without intent (misinformation), from false information which is deliberately circulated (disinformation).

He concluded that it is important to empower the individual through digital literacy to face the current world of information.

The moderator Mr. Paulo Pena, gave a brief summary of all the interventions and shared his perspective on the theme, based on his experience as an investigative journalist.

Then, the speakers answered questions made by the audience through the chat box.

The session was concluded by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, who thanked everyone for their presence and recalled that the next and 3rd session of the “Conversations in times of pandemic” cycle will take place on October 14 and will be dedicated to the topic “The importance of mental health ”.

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