Saturday 26 / October / 2024
Shusha (Azerbaijan): Shusha, a major centre of Azerbaijani culture and music, saw the culmination of the II Global Media Forum on Tuesday (July 22, 2024).
Now in its second year, the Forum attracted an international audience, and provided an opportunity to meet with COP29 Presidency officials. The Forum offered ample opportunities to discuss questions relevant to the COP preparations and other vital issues on supporting the global fight against climate change.
The opening ceremony of the second Shusha Global Media Forum themed “Unmasking False Narratives: Confronting Disinformation” was held on July 20.
The Forum featured a panel session dealing with policy and ınitiatives for building resilient societies against disinformation. The Forum has also sparked crucial conversations and fostered partnerships among media professionals worldwide, paving the way for a more informed and resilient global media landscape.
The session focused on strategies and initiatives to establish sustainable communities resilient against disinformation. Discussions aimed at addressing the global threat of disinformation included the establishment of a more robust online media ecosystem and the role of media in actively combating disinformation across various platforms and formats.
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended the Forum and answered the questions raised by the media professionals and experts. Rebecca McLaughlin-Eastham, a TV anchor and Executive Producer, representing Euronews TV Channel was the moderator of the session.
Participants from more than 50 countries here in Shusha to drill down into unmasking false narratives
Speaking at the event President Ilham Aliyev said: It’s a big honour to address this distinguished audience. I was informed that we have delegations from 49 countries, plus host country journalists - media representatives from Azerbaijan. So, in total, 50 countries have gathered here in Karabakh for the second time to address the issues you already described.”
Elaborating about the developments in the region and in the country since the last Shusha Forum, “I think it would take all the time of our session if I start to name what happened, not only in the area of media but also in general in the country and the region. As far as the region of the Southern Caucasus is concerned, I would say that we are now facing a historical transformation of the region with historical, geopolitical changes. Traditional alliances are a little bit under the phase of deterioration.”
New formats of cooperation emerge. Of course, the full restoration of our sovereignty last September was the key event not only between the 1st and 2nd forums but in our modern history in general. So, a lot of things have happened, and hopefully, all these developments will lead to a more predictable situation in the region, the President said.
“I think all what we need is to feel ourselves, I mean, the peoples of the region on the safe side. There have been enough wars, enough confrontations, and as you already mentioned, what you’ve seen coming from Fuzuli Airport to here is an enormous reconstruction program we are implementing, and what you’ve seen is just maybe 5 percent of what is going on in the region of Karabakh and East Zangazur. So, we are very optimistic. I would say that the whole society of Azerbaijan is optimistic and enthusiastic. And this is a good driver. I think the main driver for any country to succeed is the mood of society, its comfort and its expectations. Especially, when societies see that what they strived for, for so many years, has become a reality.
Speaking about Azerbaijan’s substantial progress in its renewables sector, President Ilham Aliyev said, “We inaugurated the first solar power station of 230 megawatts. Now, the construction of a wind power station of 240 megawatts is underway. Soon, we will enjoy the groundbreaking ceremony for the third solar power station of 240 megawatts. The first was done by Masdar, the second, which is now under construction, is ACWA Power, and the third, which we expect to start with BP - the leading energy companies of the world.”
“Above that, last month in Baku, we had the groundbreaking ceremony for three solar and wind power stations with a total capacity of one gigawatt. So, we are doing a lot of that. We have great potential—both technical and economic. The technical potential of offshore wind power in Azerbaijan is 157 gigawatts based on IFC, which is part of the World Bank institution. The economic potential of onshore solar and wind is 27 gigawatts, which clearly indicates how much we can generate. It’s enormous,” the President added.
When asked about the future of the media industry and the role of artificial intelligence President Ilham Aliyev said, it might be difficult for me to compete with such venerable representatives of the media industry here and say something they do not know. But as far as artificial intelligence is concerned, yes, this is a topic that is already entering a completely new plane now. From time to time, official reports are published in competent sources in Azerbaijan claiming that some business projects are allegedly announced on my behalf, but this has absolutely nothing to do with me or Azerbaijan as a whole.
“Unfortunately, many people believe this. And it is hard to say what to do about it. Because someone may read a refutation, but someone may not read it, or perhaps it is given when it is already too late. Because it is very difficult to detect such fake news right away. You discover it after some time, and during this time people already believed it. So far this is of a non-fatal nature. In other words, someone just wants to make money on this. Artificial intelligence is used to make announcements on my behalf: invest money here, invest money here. But if this goes on like this, then they may make other announcements tomorrow - declare war, for example, on my behalf. And someone may believe it and may take some other action,” he added.
“I hope that an international mechanism can be developed. And this will not be perceived in any way as some kind of infringement of the freedom of speech, etc. – an international mechanism either at the level of an international organization, the UN, I don’t know, the G20, or some key countries in order to put an end to this. This is a huge threat. And thank you for bringing up this topic, President Ilham Aliyev said.
Panel discussions
Four panel discussion were held during the two-day event and with the first one being titled ‘Impact Assessment: Understanding the Reach of Disinformation’ The 2nd panel discussion on ‘Policy and Initiatives to Build More Resilient Society to Disinformation’, the 3rd panel discussion was on ‘AI’s Impact on Reality, Media and Disinformation: Promoting Media Literacy’, and the 4th panel discussion was on ‘Climate Action and Media’.
Elnur Soltanov, Azerbaijan’s Deputy Minister of Energy and the Chief Executive Officer of COP29, also made a special presentation titled ‘Solidarity for a Green World-COP29.’
The Forum, attended by over 150 foreign guests from around 50 countries, including news agencies of 30 countries, three international organisations, and 82 media entities, provided a platform for joint discussions and actions among participants.
The first Shusha Global Media Forum themed “New Media in the Era of the 4th Industrial Revolution” was held on July 21-23, 2023.
