Thank you for giving me the floor Mr/Ms Co-facilitator.

I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the EU and its Member States.

In today's rapidly evolving technological landscape building and maintaining trust cannot be automated. To transform trust into an asset we must make it a constant priority. Building trust involves more than just checking boxes and is primarily about consistency, equity, transparency, communication, and competency. The European Union therefore welcomes this deep dive on digital trust and security, and the effort put forth to foster trust in our digital age.

The current digital ecosystems have transformed our lives for the better. However, they have also made us face new and complex challenges, such as large-scale cyber-incidents by malicious state and non-state actors, the abuse of online platforms for malicious purposes, information manipulation and interference via dissemination of disinformation and violent extremist content, hate speech, as well as the perpetration of scams and other forms of cybercrime. These can all compromise in the availability, integrity, and confidentiality of cyberspace. Women and girls, and persons in vulnerable situations, such as LGBTI persons, persons with disabilities, and Indigenous peoples suffer disproportionately from these misuses and abuses. Biases in data sets and coded in AI algorithm products may lead to systems and services replicating patterns of discrimination. This must be prevented by embedding gender equality and non-discrimination in digital technologies and spaces.

The EU has outlined its vision of a human rights-based and human-centric approach to digital transformation in the Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles for the Digital Decade.

• Fundamental and human rights apply offline as well as in the online digital environment. Therefore, everyone should have access to digital technologies, products and services that are safe and secure by design.
• To promote better access to a broad range of online services, the Declaration states a clear commitment to an accessible, voluntary, secure, and trusted digital identity.
• The Declaration also includes the principle of ‘access to a trustworthy, diverse and multilingual digital environment’, and acknowledges the specific role of online platforms in this respect.

We hope the Declaration can serve as a source of inspiration to develop the Global Digital Compact. 

Information is power, and this is true especially in the digital age. We must empower citizens to make informed choices online based on access to diverse, transparent, reliable, and easily accessible information. Equipping people with media and information literacy skills is essential in this regard. We must ensure an open, stable, safe, free, global, inclusive, interoperable, reliable, secure, and green internet, while promoting gender equality and fully respecting human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.

First and foremost, we believe that everyone, regardless of their sex, race, ethnic or social origin, religion, or belief, political or any other opinion, disability, age, sexual orientation, and gender identity has a right to benefit fully from a safe, secure, inclusive and fair online environment, where human rights are protected and promoted, and the responsibilities of government, platforms, and other tech actors are well-defined.

The resilience of cyberspace and protection of critical infrastructure form the basis for such a secure digital environment. Human rights defenders and journalists must be able to work without fear of reprisal and being subjected to violence and harassment. As a second step, the transparency regarding the origin of information and the way it is produced, sponsored, used, disseminated, amplified, deleted, and targeted should be improved. To effectively address online disinformation, inclusive solutions should be promoted through awareness-raising, media and information literacy, broad stakeholder involvement, and the cooperation of public authorities, platforms, media, and other online actors, as well as civil society.

Thirdly, the adequate protection of personal data is a key enabler of enhancing trust in the digital ecosystem. Users of digital technologies should be able to have full confidence that their personal data are processed and stored in a safe and secure way, fully in line with privacy standards. We believe that global digital cooperation is essential to strengthen the implementation of these measures and the EU proposes that the Global Digital Compact focuses on the following principles:

• First, Strengthen multilateral and multi-stakeholder engagement to tackle manipulative behaviour, as well as disinformation, discriminatory and misleading content at all levels, notably within the United Nations and with other international and regional organisations, and to advocate transparent and accountable content governance frameworks that protect freedom of expression and enhance the availability of accurate and reliable information in the public sphere, while fully respecting all human rights, democracy and the rule of law.
• Second, Develop international principles on disinformation and foreign information manipulation and interference through, for example, codes of practices, with clear commitments and specific measures, allowing for stronger joint action and accountability, subject to regular monitoring and following a multi-stakeholder model, consisting of public authorities, industry, media and other online actors, as well as academia and civil society. For instance, signatories could commit to take action in several domains, such as demonetising the dissemination of disinformation; ensuring the transparency of political and targeted advertising; promote algorithmic transparency, empowering users to assess the reliability of sources; enhancing the integration of fact-checking by platforms in their services; cooperation with fact-checkers; and providing researchers better access to data.
• Third, Promote adequate changes in platforms' conduct, aimed at a human rights-based and more accountable information ecosystem, with increased transparency, enhanced fact-checking capabilities and collective knowledge on disinformation and information manipulation and interference, as well as discrimination online, and the use of emerging technologies to improve the way information is produced and disseminated online. In doing so, the GDC should avoid duplication with other ongoing multi-stakeholder and multilateral processes, but should rather be complementary to their efforts.
• Fourth, Prevent, detect, address and end all forms of online sexual and gender-based violence as a matter of both trust and safety. Digital technologies, platforms and tools must be designed to be safe, inclusive, and accessible from the start to enable the participation of women and girls in all their diversity. The recent CSW Agreed Conclusions give us both impetus and tools to do this.

Let us all work together to ensure that digital spaces and online platforms are safe, transparent, trustworthy, and secure for all, including women and girls, and persons in vulnerable situations. We must promote the free flow of information and protect everyone from illegal and malicious activity in the digital domain as well as harmful content.

The EU stands ready to collaborate with all stakeholders to ensure a safe and secure digital environment that respects human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.

Thank you.