Shura Member Warns Over Online Attention Race

Call for stronger ethical standards in media and digital platforms

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

Trust and credibility must outrank the online chase for attention, Shura Council member Dr Ibtisam Al Dallal told a WPL forum on media and the digital age.

Dr Al Dallal said His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa's vision placed responsible media and aware digital communication among the main tools for holding society together, deepening public understanding and encouraging openness, clarity and useful civic life.

Bahrain treats the media as a partner in building society, protecting its gains and aiding long-term development, she said.

She was speaking by video link at the Ambassadors Forum, held by the Women Political Leaders network, or WPL. The forum discussed media and the risks of commercial rivalry for public attention in the digital age.

Dr Al Dallal said the world faced a new test in what is often called the attention economy. In the digital age, she said, information no longer competes only through accuracy and trustworthiness. It must also fight for the public eye.

Some online platforms, she said, place disputed or highly charged content higher because it draws more clicks and replies. The result, she added, is the wider spread of misleading information, deeper polarisation and weaker trust in news and other sources of knowledge.

Political leaders, Dr Al Dallal said, must do more than keep pace with technology. They must also ensure it is used in the service of truth, public awareness and social cohesion.

During the discussion, she asked how media platforms could help widen women’s role in politics instead of reinforcing stereotypes and bias.

She also raised the need for laws and rules that can keep pace with fast-changing digital platforms, saying the world needs more flexible models to deal with artificial intelligence, misleading information and the effect of algorithms on public opinion.