Brazil Rejects Joining 130-Country Commitment to Fight Fake News

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Jair Bolsonaro‘s government did not join a global initiative to establish a commitment not to spread misinformation amid the pandemic. The document was signed by 132 countries and authorities.

Allies of the Bolsonaro government such as Israel, India, Hungary, and Japan signed the declaration. Even Donald Trump’s US government joined, as did Boris Johnson’s UK. Germany, France, and Italy, among many other democratic countries, have also joined.

In South America, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, Colombia, Suriname, Bolivia, Peru, and Argentina, as well as Venezuela and Ecuador are members of the project. In the region, only Brazil was left out.

When questioned, Itamaraty (Brazil’s Foreign Office) failed to reply to requests for clarifications regarding the decision not to join the initiative. Communist countries such as China, Cuba, and North Korea have not joined the project either. The Russian government stayed out, as well as the Philippines.

“Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus and the declaration of the pandemic, the UN Secretary-General and other UN officials and their institutions have increasingly drawn attention to the challenge of global ‘misinfo-demic’ or pandemic misinformation,” says the text. “As COVID-19 spreads, a tsunami of misinformation, hatred, scapegoating and terror has been unleashed,” it warns.

According to governments, in times of health crisis, “the spread of “misinfo-demic” can be as dangerous to human health and safety as the pandemic itself. “Among other negative consequences, COVID-19 has created conditions that allow the spread of misinformation, false news and videos to foster violence and divide communities,” warn participating governments.

“For these reasons, we urge everyone to immediately stop spreading misinformation and observe the UN guidelines to address this problem,” the governments suggest.

“The COVID-19 crisis has proven the crucial need for access to free, reliable, factual, multilingual, targeted, accurate, clear, and scientific information, as well as to ensure dialogue and participation of all stakeholders and affected communities during preparation, readiness, and response,” they say.

The document, which praises the UN and W.H.O. work on this issue, also confirms the “critical role of the free, independent, responsible and pluralist press in increasing transparency, accountability, and trust, which are crucial to achieving adequate support and compliance of the general public with collective efforts to contain the spread of the virus.”

The commitment also refers to responsibilities. “States, regional organizations, the UN system and other stakeholders such as media workers, social media platforms, and NGOs have a clear role and responsibility in helping people deal with “misinfo-demic,” they point out.

“We are also concerned about the damage caused by the deliberate production and spread of false or manipulated information related to the pandemic,” countries say.

“We urge countries to take measures to fight the spread of such misinformation, objectively and with due respect to citizens’ freedom of expression, as well as public order and safety,” they said.

Not to be misled

Governments further commit to ensuring that people “are accurately informed from reliable sources and are not misled by misinformation about COVID-19.”

“These efforts are based, among others, on freedom of expression, freedom of the press and promotion of the highest ethical and press standards, protection of journalists and other press workers, as well as promotion of information and media literacy, public trust in science, the facts, the independent press, state, and international institutions,” they state.

“We call for action by all member states and all stakeholders to fight “misinfo-demic” to build a healthier, fairer, more just and more resilient world,” they urge.

“We remain committed to creating a healthy information environment at national, regional, and global levels, where “misinfo-demic” is fought by evidence-based scientific information and facts. In doing so, we will be better prepared to deal with the next “misinfo-demic,” they say.

Source: UOL