Tunis, January 12, 2023, SPA— The 2nd edition of the Arab Media Conference, organized by Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU), opened today in Tunis, under the slogan “Global Digital Hegemony and Arab Ways to Confront It” with the attendance of Tunisian Minister of Culture Hayet Guettat, Algerian Minister of Communication, Mohamed Bouslimani, Palestinian Minister of Media Affairs Mohammad Saleh bin Issa, Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to Tunisia Abdulaziz bin Ali Al-Saqr and a number of Arab and foreign ambassadors in Tunisia. Representatives of the member bodies of the ASBU, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and a number of experts and specialists in the media field and in addition to representatives of Arab and foreign media outlets participated in the two-day forum. The Saudi delegation to the conference was headed by President of the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) and CEO of Saudi Broadcasting Authority, Mohammad bin Fahd Al-Harithi. Delivering the inauguration speech, Tunisian Minister of Culture stressed that digital hegemony is among the most prominent issues nowadays, underlying the need for concise mechanisms to curb this boom through empowering Arab journalists and media professionals, enhancing their skills and providing them with the necessary training on using social media platforms and utilizing modern digital technologies. Guettat also stressed the importance of improving existing laws and drafting new ones to address digital hegemony and its consequences. She also underlined the need for collaborative efforts to formulate joint strategies and policies to address the challenges of the digital world, especially with regard to stereotyping of individuals and the use of the digital technologies to impose cultural control on individuals and communities and deprive them of their authentic identities and replacing them with digital ones that can be far from reality and originality. The Tunisian minister also underlined the link between media and culture in shaping the digital content and addressing the cultural alienation and identity crisis caused by ignorance of the appropriate use of digital knowledge, expressing hopes that outcomes of the conference be transformed into reality to achieve the envisioned objectives. Also delivering an opening speech, Al-Harithi explained that the second edition of the conference is of prime significance, citing the current challenges facing the Arab region and the entire world, especially increasing digital hegemony. Al-Harithi also noted that the influence of digital hegemony is increasing, causing ideological divisions and posing serious threats to the cultural identities and value systems of communities around the world. He also stressed the need for unified efforts to draft laws that outline the relationship with digital technology giants and curb digital hegemony and its social and economic consequences. Al-Harithi underlined that the world has turned into a media map rather than a geographical or historical one, with media outlets becoming the major players in shaping and influencing the international affairs and also human mind and behavior. Acknowledging the improvement brought about by digital transformation, Al-Harithi explained that the digital technologies have also had a deep negative impact on many countries that had no role in these changes but not received the gains. He also called for formulating a concise strategy to address digital hegemony, explaining that the absence of laws and regulations which give professional media the role of monitoring social media platforms content has complicated the dilemma and deepened its impact. ASBU Director General Eng. Abdelrahim Suleiman said that the union, through this conference, seeks to discuss deep and practical solutions to the major challenges facing the Arab media landscape, indicating that the audio and visual media is in the forefront of the efforts to confront digital revolution and its challenges. In its second session, the conference will discuss topics related to digital hegemony and ways to confront it in the Arab countries, in addition to the suggested action plan and the strategy to be used in the Arab world through ideas, proposals, perceptions, technological and legislative content, and the idea of establishing Arab platforms as a safe option for the region to preserve its common values. --SPA 22:57 LOCAL TIME 19:57 GMT 0015 www.spa.gov.sa/w1839528