Al Jazeera Centre for Studies and the Mass Communications Department at Qatar University are organising an international conference in Doha on March 1-2, 2023.
International experts and researchers will participate in the conference to discuss the reality of social networks at the Arab and international levels in light of the current state of ideological polarisation, and its repercussions at the national and international levels.
The conference, which will be held at Qatar University under the title, "Social Media Networks and Ideological Polarisation: Power Relations and Socio-Cultural Impact," seeks to analyse the scientific theories and the cultural, technological and economic dimensions that control the structures and performance of social networks.
At a press conference Wednesday, the organisers said the conference aims to contribute to rebuilding international policies related to social networks to ensure a fair and balanced flow of information, news and opinions among countries and cultures of the world. They also indicated that the conference also contributes to the evaluation of scientific theories that explain the relationship between social networks and ideological polarisation and the consequent negative results at all levels, whether within the same country or between countries.
Head of the Mass Communications Department at Qatar University Dr Basyouni Hamada confirmed that the importance of the conference lies in the issues and topics for discussion in light of the current challenges and crises in which these means play a pivotal role in guiding public opinion.
He said that the conference accommodates the various political, social, economic and ethical dimensions of social networks, in an attempt to diagnose reality and come up with visions that contribute to promoting a balance in the free flow of information between North and South.
Director of the Media Studies Programme at Al Jazeera Centre for Studies Mohamed al-Rajhi, shed light on the nature of these issues under discussion and the most prominent international experts participating in the conference from the Arab world, the United States, Europe, and other regions of the world.
The conference agenda includes many axes including the international balance of power and its impact on the structure and performance of social media networks.
In this context, it will present the networks' ability to create realities and their role in the conflict of narratives dominating public opinion. It will also shed light on the involvement of social media networks in the states' domestic affairs, or "audience engineering", using algorithms and artificial intelligence.
Moreover, the conference will explore the economic interests and cultural wars that weaponise social media networks, highlighting the monopoly of information technology companies on these networks and its impact on the media industry; the commercial exploitation of users' data; and the role of social media networks in intensifying hate speech and ideological polarisation, and the political and cultural effects.
The conference will also address the legislation regulating the use of social media networks and the means of reinforcing the ethics of their use. It will also dedicate space to the discussion of the state of social media networks in the Arab world, examining Arab platforms, their challenges and the means for their development to promote competition with international platforms as well as the ability of these networks to support liberties, human rights and the protection of activists.
