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UN / GUTERRES MISINFORMATION EPIDEMIC
STORY: UN / SYRIA COVID-19 UPDATE
TRT: 2:00
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH /NATS
DATELINE: 14 APRIL 2020, NEW YORK CITY
FILE
1. Exterior shot, UN Headquarters
14 APRIL 2020, NEW YORK CITY
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations:
“As the world fights the deadly COVID-19 pandemic – the most challenging crisis we have faced since the Second World War – we are also seeing another epidemic, a dangerous epidemic of misinformation. Around the world, people are scared. They want to know what to do and where to turn for advice. This is a time for science and solidarity. Yet the global ‘misinfo-demic’ is spreading. Harmful health advice and snake-oil solutions are proliferating. Falsehoods are filling the airwaves. Wild conspiracy theories are infecting the Internet. Hatred is going viral, stigmatizing and vilifying people and groups. The world must unite against this disease, too. The vaccine is trust. First, trust in science. I salute the journalists and others fact-checking the mountain of misleading stories and social media posts. Social media companies must do more to root out hate and harmful assertions about COVID-19. Second, trust in institutions — grounded in responsive, responsible, evidence-based governance and leadership. And trust in each other. Mutual respect and upholding human rights must be our compass in navigating this crisis. Together, let’s reject the lies and nonsense out there. Today, I am announcing a new United Nations communications response initiative to flood the internet with facts and science while countering the growing scourge of misinformation, a poison that is putting even more lives at risk. With common cause for common sense and facts, we can defeat COVID-19 -- and build a healthier, more equitable, just and resilient world. Thank you.”
FILE
3. Exterior shot, UN Headquarters
The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres today (14 Apr) said in a video message that as the world fights the deadly COVID-19 pandemic we are also seeing another pandemic – “the dangerous epidemic of misinformation.”
Around the world, people are scared, he said, and they want to know what to do and where to turn to for advice.
“Yet the global ‘misinfo-demic’ is spreading,” said the Secretary-General.
The Secretary-General announced a new United Nations Communications Response initiative to “flood the Internet with facts and science while countering the growing scourge of misinformation -- a poison that is putting even more lives at risk.”
He called on everyone to unite against this disease by trusting science and journalists who are fact-checking misleading stories. The Secretary-General also called on trust in institutions — grounded in responsive, responsible, evidence-based governance and leadership.
“With common cause for common sense and facts, we can defeat COVID-19 -- and build a healthier, more equitable, just and resilient world,” he said.
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