February 11, Pozirk. Tech giants should prevent dictators from using AI tools and social media that they abuse for reprisals and propaganda, Belarusian opposition leader Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja said at yesterday’s conference on AI in Paris.
The discussion was a part of the AI Action Summit in Paris, chaired by French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Make sure that KGB and regime’s agents don’t have access to tools,” Cichanoŭskaja stressed. “Ban the regime’s content on your platforms: we must make sure that your platforms are not used by the regime’s propaganda, for example, to spread videos of political prisoners forced under torture to record false confessions.”
Pro-democracy forces “need tools to help people bypass digital repression and hide their identity” from the KGB along with secure communication, VPNs and fact-checking systems, she added.
The politician urged Google, Amazon and Microsoft to fund civic and social projects, including training in AI for civil society activists.
“If you are an investor, fund initiatives that empower civil society in countries like Belarus,” she said, citing the Belarusian origin of EPAM, Pandadoc and Wargaming.
Cichanoŭskaja also called on tech giants to support the Belarusian language amid Moscow’s Russification drive.
