RIGF 2022: "Ecosystems And Platforms Are Becoming Drivers Of Economic Growth Today"

The RIGF 2022 work program was opened with the section “Global Digital Compact: A Chance For Fair Play?”, announced at the opening of the Forum. Together with moderator Roman Chukov (Center for Global IT-Cooperation), participants discussed the need to create new international norms and “rules of the game” in the field of ICT and the draft Global Digital Compact. The experts stressed that today the massive removal of Russian apps from online stores, the active dissemination of fakes and false information and the infringement of the rights of ordinary network users are of serious concern.

Roman Chukov also noted that RIGF 2022 discussion could become the "assembly point" of Russian initiatives to further communicate them to all parties involved in the development of the Global Digital Compact.

Chan Yuping (Office of the UN Secretary-General's Envoy for Technology) said that the UN is interested in fixing principles in this document that would reflect the "situation on the ground" and that all participants in the process would agree with. “We will try to do our best to ensure that this document concerns not only the role and activities of states in regulating the network, but also the activities of platforms and user experience. We collect all points of view and involve in the discussion of the treaty both states and international companies, and the private sector. And we welcome any suggestions from the Russian Internet community,” she concluded.

Vadim Glushchenko (Center for Global IT-Cooperation) emphasized that the Russian community has its own views on how the Global Digital Compact should look like. “But it is important that the Russian expert community come up with a common consolidated position, and now is the time to start working on its formation,” he stressed.

Participants of the “Ecosystems Regulation” section, together with moderators Karen Kazaryan (Internet Research Institute) and Sergey Plugotarenko (RAEC), have discussed the development of Russian digital ecosystems and platforms, as well as how they may be affected by legal and economic regulation. Sergey Plugotarenko gave a brief overview of the Russian “digital loop”, noting that out of almost 100 million Russian Internet users, 20 million in 2021 used ecosystem subscriptions. More than 10 ecosystems are developing on the Russian market today, and each user has an average of 1.5 subscriptions. At the same time, ecosystems also provide an opportunity for their users to earn money - according to the speaker, the share of the platform economy today supplies 2% of GDP, and more than 2 million people are employed in it. “Ecosystems and platforms are becoming drivers of economic growth today,” Sergey Plugotarenko concluded.

The regulation of ecosystems is one of today's most critical matters. Elena Zaeva (Federal Antimonopoly Service) remarked that the FAS upholds the "net neutrality" principles developed and adopted in 2016. “Unlike other industries, the role of consumers in the digital sphere is great, and digital services and ecosystems cannot ignore their pressure. Therefore, we see our role, first of all, in creating conditions and clear rules of the game,” Elena Zaeva summed up.

During the section “Russian And World Experience In The Field Of Combating Destructive Content. The Role And Responsibility Of Digital Platforms”, moderator Anna Dupan (Institute for Problems of Legal Regulation, Faculty of Law, Higher School of Economics) invited experts to discuss one of the most controversial aspects of Internet Governance – content regulation. Participants also defined the criteria for destructive content and shared their experience in regulating it, as well as discussed the role of the state and digital platforms in countering the spread of inappropriate content.

According to Vladimir Todorov, Director of media development at Rambler&Co and editor-in-chief of Lenta.ru, World practice demonstrates that social networks' attempts to self- regulate do not always succeed, their algorithms for identifying harmful content are not always accurate, and there are simply insufficient moderators to handle the volume of information that is released. “One of the key tasks of journalism is to ask uncomfortable questions for which society must seek answers. For example, where does the request for such content come from. Perhaps, new destructive subcultures are being formed now, and children fall under their influence from loneliness and complete misunderstanding of parents and teachers. It is necessary to establish an institute of school psychologists so that adolescents have confidence in them. It is necessary to establish an institute of school psychologists so that youths have confidence in them. Together with teachers, they should conduct training seminars so that parents do not see mailings with the subject: "Attention, remove Genshin Impact from children's phones." Teenagers are already content producers, and if the state and social networks start to marginalize them, they will become atomized and want to leave this society for new, much more closed communication channels: encrypted messengers or private chats,” the speaker said.

The first day of RIGF 2022 was completed by the section “Preserving Human Agency In Ai-Enabled Internet”, which was moderated by Karen Kazarian (Internet Research Institute). The participants discussed how Internet technologies will develop under the influence of AI, what challenges users and society face, and what opportunities exist today to reduce risks when using AI. Representatives of numerous governmental and commercial institutions such as Alexey Neiman (Big Data Association), Andrey Neznamov (Sberbank), Fyodor Lukyanov (Patriarchal Commission for Family Affairs, Protection of Motherhood and Childhood), Elena Suragina (MTS), Ekaterina Potapova (Center for Training Leaders and Digital Transformation Teams, GSSU RANEPA), Yuri Lindre (SkolTech) were present for the debate. The main conclusions of the section are: the person should have the final responsibility for any technology, fears about the disappearance of certain professions due to the introduction of AI are greatly exaggerated, because the pace of digital transformation and the introduction of AI allows you to quickly get a new profession if necessary, and all people should try maintain critical thinking in this challenging world.

Tomorrow, September 29, RIGF 2022 will continue – join us!