Finding reliable information on large platforms is difficult in the headline time, says regulator.
PUBLISHED: 19 Jul 2024 at 22: 24
According to Pirongrong Ramasoota, a member of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission ( NBTC ), the government and civil society should work together to promote greater prominence on digital platforms and mobile apps.
She made the remarks while speaking on the 2024 Global News Forum, which was co-hosted by the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union and Thai PBS.
In the age of cultural advertising, propaganda and bait seem to be dominating the news habitat, Ms Pirongrong said. The quality and accuracy of information seem to question less than user engagement and clicks because programs ‘ financial viability depends on systems driven by data, she continued.
But with the growing pattern of “platformisaton”, media agencies have no choice but to travel website and be dictated by techniques, Ms Pirongrong said.
Unlike in Europe and other Eastern countries, Thais seem to be getting their information mainly from social media, particularly third-party programs.
Proper identification to news organizations is not always quite common, especially when it comes to international platforms with strong bargaining power, she said. This is cruel and suggests a lack of accountability, Ms Pirongrong said.
” Realizing algorithmic impact is not a regulatory problem, news organizations must work with the public sector and civil society to ensure they gain notoriety, especially on online platforms, mobile software, and related TVs,” she continued.
Government regulators as well as political and civic organizations have been lobbying for the labeling and explicit branding of trustworthy public service media on YouTube in Europe and Canada, she said.
In the meantime, negotiations with Samsung are raging for a prominent operator profile for public service broadcasters on its connected TVs.
Additionally, moves have been made to pass laws that require the use of old public service broadcasters as mobile apps, according to Ms. Pirongrong.
Thailand needs a similar initiative to help rebuild trust in the news ecosystem, she said.
The NBTC is currently developing a social credit model that would allow each licensed broadcaster to be evaluated on its level of content quality, starting with the news, in order to be eligible for a certification of trustworthiness.
She added that this would serve as the foundation for future negotiations regarding the future presence of these news sources on online platforms.