BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. The Media Forum of the Organization of Turkic-speaking States (OTS) is being held in Baku, aimed at strengthening cooperation between Turkic-speaking nations in the media and communications sector, Trend reports.
Meanwhile, two panel sessions are scheduled to take place at the forum.
The panel sessions will be devoted to the topics “Sustainable and preventive measures against growing global information threats in the modern era: on the example of the media ecosystem of the Turkic states” and “Opportunities for mutual cooperation of OTS member states in the digital media environment.”
Addressing the event, Natig Mammadli, Deputy Executive Director of the Media Development Agency (MEDIA), announced that Media Literacy Week will kick off in Azerbaijan next month.
He also noted that throughout its history, the media has been shaped by threats and persecution. Despite this, it is precisely in the face of such challenges that the media has grown and developed, building up a kind of immunity, and today the very nature of censorship in the media environment has changed.
"The abundance of information makes it difficult for people to find and select the information they need. The growth in the volume of content created by artificial intelligence, as well as the spread of fake news, are among the serious obstacles to the development of professional media. The new law “On the Media” serves as a legal immunity protecting Azerbaijan's information space," he stressed.
Dauletkhan Jiyenkulov, deputy chairman of Kazakhstan's Khabar agency, noted that the goal of disinformation is to influence the judgments and public opinion forming in society.
According to him, fake news creates a certain amount of confusion in society. “The goal is to influence the opinions and judgments of people in society and to disrupt internal order in the country,” Jiyenkulov said.
Zarina Kalmuratova, chief specialist of the Information Policy Department of the Ministry of Culture, Information, and Youth Policy of Kyrgyzstan, stated in her speech that among the proposals is the creation of representative offices of YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and other social networks in the countries of the OTS.
She noted that media literacy should always be a priority.
Kalmuratova added that there are no official social media representatives in her country.
“It would be good if Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok representative offices were established within the Organization of Turkic States,” she said.
Alptekin Cihangir İşbilir, press secretary of the Turkish Embassy in Azerbaijan, emphasized that the world has transitioned from geopolitical transformation to an astro-political information era.
He stated that the development of the media is impossible without the development of modern satellite technologies:
“The impact of modern technological changes on the media is already evident and needs to be studied. Artificial intelligence involves very fast algorithms. Foreign networks are using it successfully, and we also need to develop in this direction.”
İşbilir emphasized that a new renaissance is taking place in the Turkic world.
“If we act on a single platform and do not oppose each other, the media can become our main weapon. In Azerbaijan, we are testing these possibilities and studying what work the Turkish-Azerbaijani media platform can do,” he noted.
Will be updated
