The COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of the “disinfodemic” surrounding it have raised challenges. These challenges also engender new opportunities, including those identified in two recent UNESCO policy briefs on the COVID-19 disinfodemic and a global research of the ITU/UNESCO Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development, entitled ‘Balancing Act: Countering Digital Disinformation while respecting Freedom of Expression’.
The policy briefs and global research study highlight case studies of COVID-19 counter-disinformation responses and propose sector-specific actionable recommendations and a 23-point framework to test disinformation responses.
The actionable recommendations include: 1) For identification, monitoring and investigation of disinformation and the networks that propel it, along with normative, educational and credibility-labeling steps; 2) For sunset clauses on emergency provisions that weaken and may normalize infringements on privacy, freedom of expression, access to information and other human rights norms; 3) For internet communications companies to put multi-stakeholder engagement into top gear, demonstrating their goodwill to improve policy and practices in support of access to quality information, including independent journalism, transparency on their controls of content, and redress mechanisms; 4) For governments, internet communications companies and other donors to support core funding for news media and independent fact checking efforts, with no strings attached; 5) For policy makers and institutions to promote open data sources that contain provisions and due safeguards for privacy, especially with reference to surveillance and health data gathering; 6) For states to commit to transparency on strategies to combat the pandemic and recover from it, including public spending on pandemics and economic recovery plans, as a means to counter false information; and 7) For internet communications companies to analyze and upgrade automated algorithmic responses to combat the disinfodemic, while addressing automation errors in the absence of human fact checkers and the dilution of a robust appeal and correction method during the crisis.
