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

Course overview

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 full course includes

1. Introducing the Disinfodemic
2. Main Disinfodemic Types
3. Key Themes of the Disinfodemic
4. Identifying Disinformation
5. Producers and Distributors
6. Production and Distribution
7. Supporting the Disinformation Target Audiences
8. Options for Action
9. Acknowledgements