Combating the Disinfodemic: Working for truth in the time of COVID-19

COVID-19 has led to a parallel pandemic of disinformation that directly impacts lives and livelihoods around the world. Falsehoods and misinformation have proven deadly and sowed confusion about life-saving personal and policy choices. To #ShareKnowledge, UNESCO and UNITAR have collaborated to bring to mobile e-learning two UNESCO policy briefs offering critical insights into the fast-growing COVID-19-related disinformation that is impeding access to trustworthy sources and reliable information. The impacts of COVID-19 disinformation are more deadly than disinformation about other subjects, such as politics and democracy. That is why this research, in line with UNESCO's role as a laboratory of ideas, coins the term disinfodemic to describe the problem. This interactive course is a collaboration between the UNESCO Sector for Communication and Information and the UNITAR Divisions for Multilateral Diplomacy and Prosperity.

The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) is a dedicated training arm of the United Nations system.