The Role of Information Integrity in BU’s Next Chapter
By: Michelle Amazeen
As part of COM’s strategic plan to focus on communication that helps society engage with modern challenges, many fellows of the Communication Research Center have been sharpening their attention on issues of information integrity. As such, it was unsurprising to see so many of our researchers in the Gold Coast of Australia at the 74th Annual International Communication Association conference that was themed, “Communication and Global Human Rights.” Indeed, the United Nations has long held that freedom of information is a fundamental human right and “is the touchstone of all the freedoms to which the United Nations is consecrated.”
To demonstrate its commitment to the integrity of information, Secretary-General António Guterres recently announced the UN’s Global Principles for Information Integrity. Coming just months after the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Global Risks report warned the threat of mis- and disinformation will intensify societal divides around the world over the next two years, the UN report provides a much needed official framework to protect and promote the integrity of information in our media ecosystems at a time when accurate information is under siege. Given that democratic societies depend upon fact-based, shared perceptions of reality, these assaults on information are an attack on democracy.
As the Secretary General called out stakeholders for their role in this crisis, I was struck by how many of our CRC fellows are already engaged in researching aspects of these very issues. Whether its studying the damage the products of big tech companies are having on individuals and society or the evolution of their platform guidelines, to how advertisers and the public relations industry are creating coordinated disinformation campaigns to undermine climate action, our fellows are on it. We also have teams of our researchers studying the implications of generative artificial intelligence, another factor mentioned by Guterres as supercharging the threats to information integrity.
With BU’s transition to the leadership of President Melissa Gilliam and Provost Gloria Waters, a refreshening of the thematic areas of the university’s strategic plans is likely in store, in part to better reflect the research excellence of the university. Given how information integrity is affecting so many aspects of society, this is one area where researchers from COM can and should be leading. I look forward to this next chapter in BU’s journey.