Giancarlo Summa, director of the United Nations Information Centre for Mexico, accompanied the undersecretary of Health Prevention and Promotion Hugo López-Gatell and Jenaro Villamil, holder of the Mexican State Public Broadcasting System (SPR), to present the Verified initiative at the evening conference on coronavirus.
The United Nations Verified initiative is an effort to combat false information in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic, which will be promoted through the SPR.
This phenomenon, known as the infodemic, may refer to excess information on a specific topic, which can lead to the generation of fake or context-drawn news. "The United Nations launched the global Verified campaign in May to contribute to the fight against this infodemic of false information," Summa recalled at the conference.
"There are two types of false information circulating on social media or in media, uninformed information (sic.), which affirm things that are not true out of ignorance, but there are also well-organized campaigns that redistribute obviously false messages, we have seen it in several countries, for example against the use of masks or measures of social distancing, or distrust of science and scientists, something that we are very concerned about because the fight against the pandemic becomes more complicated," explained the director in Mexico of the United Nations Information Centre.
He also explained that such initiatives are necessary, especially for what is to come, he points out that action should be taken but will become more complicated for example when vaccines are available and there is misinformation to false information around it.
That is why the UN launched this campaign at the global level, adapting to the contexts of each country. Summa quoted Luis Angel Hurtado of UNAM and his study in which he indicates that Mexico is one of the countries where the greatest amount of fake news circulates on social networks.
Summa appreciated the support of the SPR and https://infodemia.mx/ that denies fake news and promotes the verification of sources especially in health and the support of different media outlets that have joined the Verified initiative. Verified.
The UN portal specializing in coronavirus in Mexico is as follows: https://coronavirus.onu.org.mx/verified
