Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 13) — The Philippines has yet to join the roster of countries who have lent their support to a UN-backed call to end an “infodemic” in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis.
The Latvian mission to the United Nations published a copy of the “Cross-regional statement on ‘infodemic’ in the context of COVID-19” on Twitter, which in part read, “The spread of the ‘infodemic’ can be as dangerous to human health and security as the pandemic itself. Among other negative consequences, COVID-19 has created conditions that enable the spread of disinformation, fake news and doctored videos to foment violence and divide communities.”
In a tweet on March 28, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he world was facing an “infodemic” of misinformation. The World Health Organization explains the term as “an excessive amount of information about a problem, which makes it difficult to identify a solution.”
A total of 132 countries have endorsed the statement which was co-authored by Australia, Chile, France, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Latvia, Lebanon, Mauritius, Mexico, Norway, Senegal, and South Africa.
“It is critical states counter misinformation as a toxic driver of secondary impacts of the pandemic that can heighten the risk of conflict, violence, human rights violations and mass atrocities,: said the statement, calling for the immediate stop of misinformation.
It is important, the statement said, that “free, reliable, trustworthy, factual, multilingual, targeted, accurate, clear and science-based information” be made available to all, and that all stakeholders have a responsibility to guide people though which information is correct.
“We call for action by all Member States and all stakeholders to fight the “infodemic” to build, to quote the Secretary General, a “healthier, more equitable, just and resilient world,” it said.
The administration has constantly given reminders for Filipinos to stop the spread of fake news about the virus, adding it should rely on information from government offices and agencies and not from those taken solely from social media and word-of-mouth.
READ: 32 arrested over ‘fake’ COVID-19 news
The Bayanihan Law which grants President Rodrigo Duterte additional powers to address the COVID-19 crisis also contains a provision which punishes those who create or spread false information about the viral disease.
Upon the initiative of 🇦🇺 🇨🇱 🇫🇷 🇬🇪 🇮🇳 🇮🇩 🇱🇻 🇱🇧🇲🇺🇲🇽🇳🇴
🇸🇳🇿🇦,1️⃣3️⃣2️⃣ signatories endorse the Cross-regional Statement on #Infodemic. We support @antonioguterres UN Communications Response initiative #VERIFIED and call for global action to fight #infodemic during #COVID19 @SAMissionNY pic.twitter.com/VywQMFnOwV— Latvia Mission to UN (@LatviaUN_NY) June 12, 2020
