Cij Wants Disinformation To Be Clearly Defined For Aifa Chatbot

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The Artificial Intelligence Fact-Check Assistant chatbot, launched by communications minister Fahmi Fadzil today, aims to assist the public in verifying and obtaining accurate information online, quickly and easily. (Bernama pic)
PETALING JAYA: The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) has urged the government to clearly define “disinformation” following the launch of a chatbot to combat fake news on WhatsApp.
Earlier today, communications minister Fahmi Fadzil launched the sebenarnya.my chatbot, known as the Artificial Intelligence Fact-Check Assistant (Aifa), in a bid to battle fake news and enable users to check the authenticity of unverified news online.
CIJ director Wathshlah G Naidu said the threshold of disinformation must be clearly defined to prevent the government from misusing the chatbot to control the prevailing narratives.
“Clear safeguards will be necessary to prevent the government (especially the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission) from being the sole arbiter of what is the truth,” she said in a statement.
Wathshlah warned that pro-government bias in the development and deployment of the system would undermine public trust.
“We require further information on how the chatbot would be moderated and which guidelines it would adhere to, especially in guaranteeing ethical use of AI, upholding freedom of expression, and privacy and data protection,” she added.
Wathshlah stressed that the chatbot must act in adherence to the fundamental principle of freedom of expression and not undermine accuracy and ethics of its response.
“It is critical to ensure that it (the information) is accurate and to avoid misclassification of legitimate information or news as false.
“It would also require advanced technology to distinguish deepfakes and malfinformation,” Wathshlah said.
She also expressed concern over the fact that the government was exempted from the scope of the Personal Data Protection Act 2010.
“As such, we would require further guarantees that the data and personal information of the users (of the chatbot) will be protected,” she said.
Wathshlah urged the government to establish clear human oversight over the deployment of the chatbot, in the form of an independent, multi-stakeholder body that could also handle dispute resolution.
She also said there should be transparency regarding algorithms and datasets, as well as regular due diligence and independent audits to identify biases and their impact.
The government must also conduct regular digital literacy education and public awareness campaigns in its efforts to combat fake news, she added. - FMT

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