UNESCO’s Director of Policies & Strategies in the field of Communication and Information, Guy Berger, will open the debate.
As background to the session, Julie Posetti, director of research at the International Center for Journalists and co-author of the UNESCO policy briefs on the COVID-19 disinfodemic, will introduce the main typologies of COVID-19 disinformation and of responses to the disinfodemic it identified in the report. She will summarize the analysis contained in the policy papers, which adopted the same methodology as another major report released this fall by the Broadband Commission on Sustainable Development, on the theme of countering digital disinformation while respecting freedom of expression.
The moderator will pose questions to the expert panelists to structure the exchange.
Among issues to be covered include:
- Efforts by WHO and other UN agencies to counter misinformation and disinformation.
- The main findings and conclusions drawn by the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development in its recent report Balancing Act: Countering Digital Disinformation While Respecting Freedom of Expression.
- The challenge posed by the circulation of misinformation and disinformation on social media platforms, the dangers such content presents to their users, and the new measures and partnerships that Twitter has taken to combat it.
- The renewed efforts by journalists and fact-checkers, such as members of the International Fact-Checking Network, to counter misinformation and disinformation.
- The role of the media in countering misinformation, building on the work led by First Draft and others.
The debate will lead to discussions on recommendations for governments, civil society, private sector, and media.
The moderator will open the floor for questions and comments from participants through the Zoom Q&A and live chat functionalities.
Closing sum-up and identification of ways forward.
