The theme of Peace Summit Day 2 was “Role of Media in Upcoming Election” where editors, journalists, media activists and development professionals along with Facebook South East Asia Public & Policy team participated. The program started with a session on how Facebook is taking action on fake news, extremist contents and elections by Mr. Sivnath Thakral, Director, Public Policy (India and South Asia), Facebook. He also mentioned that Facebook gives users utmost priority and doesn’t share user info with Government and law enforcement agencies without official procedure. Facebook also publishes transparency report on Govt requests every quarter.
Mr. Varun Reddy, Public Policy Manager of Facebook conducted next session on Facebook community guidelines for safety and security.
After Q&A session with Facebook team, the next segment started with the roundtable discussion on “Role of Media in Upcoming Election” with the prominent news editors and media experts. Ms. Mithila Farzana, Current Affairs Editor, Ekattor Media Limited, Mr. Zahirul Alam, Chief News Editor – NTV, Selim Khan, Overseas Editor, Prothom Alo, Suchitra Mallick, Senior Sub Editor, Dhaka Tribune pointed several factors where media can contribute and impact in the upcoming election. Speakers also showed concerns over impact of social media during elections and about safety of the journalists.
Other notable speakers, Mr. Asif Munier, Theater Rights Activist, Mr. Jamal Uddin- Ex President, Dhaka Reporters Unity, Ms. Tas-miah Nuhiya, Executive Editor, Daily Our Time, Ms. Syeda Samara Mortada- Communication Analyst, UN Women Bangladesh, Ms. Ayesha Mahmud, Broadcast Journalist & News Presenter, Independent Television, Mr. Shidhartho Goushami – UNDP and others, reflected their thought on the elections and impact of media. The session was conducted by Arif Nezami, CEO of Preneur Lab.
