Our Senior Associate - Research and Policy Engagement, Merrin Muhammed Ashraf participated in the UNESCO International Conference on Digital Platform Governance 2026 which is took place from 11-13th February at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. The conference convened media and communication regulators, governments, electoral bodies, digital platforms, civil society, academia, and international and regional organizations from all regions to advance human rights–based and multistakeholder approaches to digital governance, and assess progress in the implementation of the UNESCO Guidelines for the Governance of Digital Platforms.
Merrin's participation at the conference entailed attending the closed-door meeting of the Internet for Trust Knowledge Network on Day 0 of the conference and participating in its discussions on the challenges and pathways for implementing the UNESCO guidelines. At the end of the meeting, the community released a statement (https://www.i4tknowledge.org/press-releases/I4T_kn_Pretoria_Statement_Feb_12_2026.pdf) outlining the priorities to be included in the Pretoria Declaration, which will be the outcome of the larger conference.
Merrin was also a speaker at the Asia regional roundtable 'Advancing Accountable Platform Governance in Asia: Regional trends and global frameworks' that was co-organized by UNESCO and Global Partners Digital. In her intervention, Merrin spoke about the recent challenges related to the use of AI in platforms in the region and what are the regulatory trends addressing them.