Health professionals check a patient infected with COVID-19 at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Doctor Ernesto Che Guevara Public Hospital in Marica, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, on June 6, 2020.(AFP)
Governments must step up to lead the fight against a growing tide of false, inflammatory and misleading information that threatens to worsen the already harsh impacts of the COVID-19, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said in a statement on Thursday.
By standing with their people to build a trusted relationship, governments can alleviate the worst threats of misinformation, and in turn more loss of lives and livelihoods, according to the statement.
The UNDP is working closely with national institutions, as well as with media and civic actors in fighting against the spread of disinformation and misinformation, including supporting initiatives to use social media and websites to circulate accurate information on COVID-19, continued the statement.
“Advice about COVID-19 changes swiftly as medical understanding evolves, and this rapid evolution and the crippling impact on lives and livelihoods have led to a public thirst for information. Social media, informal news sources and fringe journalism have filled the void, often sowing fear, stigmatisation, discrimination and confusion,” the UNDP said.
“Learning the lessons from HIV and Ebola, we must join forces to reject misinformation and stigma, anchoring our responses and advocacy in science, evidence, human rights and solidarity. While many actors bear a responsibility to counter misinformation, real progress will not be achieved without government leadership,” UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner said.
The UNDP cited the analysis carried out by researchers at the Bruno Kessler Foundation on 112 million public social media posts on the pandemic and found that 40 percent came from unreliable sources, and 42 percent of over 178 million tweets on COVID-19 were by bots.
Last week, the United Nations (UN) launched ‘Verified’, an initiative to combat the growing scourge of COVID-19 misinformation through uplifting the volume and reach of trusted, accurate information.
The initiative is expected to provide information around three themes: science, to save lives; solidarity, to promote local and global cooperation; and solutions, to advocate for support to impacted populations.
It will also promote recovery packages that tackle the climate crisis and address the root causes of poverty, inequality and hunger.
In partnership with the UNDP, other UN agencies, UN country teams, influencers, civil society, business and media organisations, the initiative will distribute accurate content and work with social media platforms to root out hate and harmful assertions about COVID-19.
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