On December 3-5, Vladimir Ivanov, Director of the EastWest Institute’s (EWI) Moscow Office, participated in the First Annual International Forum: “Freedom of Journalism in the Context of Human Rights, New Technologies and International Information Security.” Also branded as the Free Media Forum, the event took place in Bratislava, Slovakia, and was co-sponsored by International Affairs, a leading Russian diplomatic journal, the Moscow State University (MSU), including the MSU-affiliated Institute for Information Security Issues, the Union of Journalists of Russia, and Comenius Analytica, a Bratislava-based expert center. 

Featuring an opening address by Alexey Fedotov, Russian Ambassador to the Slovak Republic, and bringing together a diverse mix of media professionals, academics and public opinion makers, the forum highlighted Russia’s ambition to contribute to the international debate on the impact of modern media and information technologies. 
 
Speaking in Bratislava at the session on “Safety of Use and Resilience of Global Information Infrastructure” Ivanov focused on the difficulties of the current global diplomatic process, particularly at the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly, to come to terms on the rules of responsible state behavior in cyberspace. 

“Simultaneous approval by the UN First Committee of two competing draft resolutions on this matter, one led by the Russian Federation, and another by the United States, show that the international community is highly conscious of the urgent need for action to counter threats stemming from modern information and communication technologies,” Ivanov commented. “Unfortunately, actionable agreement in this area is hampered by the lingering antagonism between Russia and the United States.”

At the same time, according to Ivanov, any political uncertainty about cyber-related diplomatic initiatives should not discourage multiple constructive efforts on the part of experts and the global business community to explore viable approaches to developing and implementing norms of responsible conduct in cyberspace. In this context, EWI supports several leading multilateral and multi-stakeholder initiatives as well as the bi-lateral dialogues between the U.S. and Russia, and between the U.S. and China.
 
The forum in Bratislava has the potential to grow into a promising new platform to address aspects of international cyber cooperation, and its role in today’s reflecting an evolving landscape of media standards, including the safety of journalists in military conflicts, relationship between media and governments, as well as challenges to political pluralism and cultural diversity.

Click here for more information about the forum.