UN combats spread of fake news at local and national levels
22 May 2020
- Reaffirming its commitment to combat fake news, the UN is engaged with different partners in Lebanon to counter the surge in the production
and dissemination of disinformation, propaganda and other misleading content. - Part of the solution to the massive amounts of disinformation is to improve the supply of truthful information, and ensure that demand for it is met, through reinforcing journalistic ethics and professionalism, and improving media literacy among consumers of information.
- This strategy involves a twopronged combination of awareness raising on the national level and capacity-building for local actors.
Tackling fake news is particularly critical in the current Covid-19 pandemic as it is putting lives at risk, including the lives of people stigmatized for carrying the virus or accused of spreading it. This should serve as a wakeup call for all responsible societies to learn how to deal with the spread and effects of fake news in future challenges.
“Misinformation during times of a health crisis can spread fear and stigmatization. It can also leave children, families and communities unprotected and more vulnerable to the virus”, said UNICEF Lebanon Representative Yukie Mokuo. “We ask everyone to seek accurate information from verified sources and to you refrain from sharing information from untrustworthy or unverified sources”.
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