Inside United Nations
New York: With almost half of world’s population still offline, digital divide risks are becoming ‘New Face of Inequality’, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed warned the General Assembly last night (Indian Standard Time).
“Digital technologies can reinforce and indeed accelerate inequalities. As the world becomes more digitally dependent, it threatens to exclude those that remain disconnected. Almost half the world’s population, 3.7 billion people, the majority of them women, and most in developing countries, are still offline, she said at the General Assembly high-level thematic debate on digital cooperation and connectivity.
Citing the example of the COVID-19 crisis, she said it had highlighted this disparity. While confronting the pandemic, those without Internet access have been unable to benefit from remote education, remote work, or remote health services. “Without decisive action, the digital divide will become the new face of inequality,” she emphasised.
Amina stressed “three key opportunities”:
“First, in responding to the growing fragmentation in the digital space, the United Nations has a key role to play. Geopolitical fault lines between major powers are emerging, with technology as a leading area of tension and disagreement. Technology companies are responding in different ways to varying national approaches on issues such as privacy, data governance and freedom of expression. This is made worse by the deepening digital divide between developed and developing countries, which means that global discussions on digital issues are often less inclusive and representative of the concerns and priorities of the global South. Now more than ever, we need a global townhall to address these issues and to capitalize on technology’s transformational potential to create new jobs, boost financial inclusion, close the gender gap, spur a green recovery and redesign our cities.
“Second, no single country or company, by itself, should steer the course of our digital future. This is why we must reaffirm the value of engaging with all stakeholders and convening multi-stakeholder partnerships. The task of achieving universal connectivity cannot be left solely to governments, or even to individual technology companies. The same is true for managing artificial intelligence.
“Third, when faced with complex issues like online incitement to violence, or the use of private data, the private sector is increasingly looking for guidance at the global level — minimum criteria or basic norms of behaviour that can help level the playing field for all stakeholders, and in so doing, provide equal protection to all users and consumers, no matter where they are.”
She added: “Collectively, our task is to help design digital environments that can connect everyone with a positive future. This is why we need a common effort, with collaboration among national and local governments, the private sector, civil society, academia and multilateral organisations.”
As with other technologies of the past, Amina suggested working to create “guard rails” that ensure that digital transformation is a force for good. “It is encouraging that Member States have asked to improve digital cooperation and to use the United Nations as platform for dialogue,” she said.
She called upon UN Member States to prioritise concrete actions and outcome-oriented initiatives, such as “Giga”, the United Nations effort to connect every school in the world to the Internet, and their ongoing efforts to ensure a legal identity for all through digital birth registration.
While mentioning that digital age holds much promise for turbocharging the UN’s work to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, she said digital technologies — from artificial intelligence to blockchain — have truly transformative potential. “They augment human capacity, open new frontiers of productivity, and provide new opportunities for people and societies,” she noted.
“But even as we recognise their vast potential, we must contend with the risks. We have seen digital technologies become vehicles for the spread of misinformation, hate speech, online child abuse and violent extremism. In the wrong hands, they are tools for violating human rights and engaging in terrorist activity,” she cautioned.
– global bihari bureau
