Guterres: protect Journalists providing 'antidote' to misinformation about pandemic

The UN head marked World Press Freedom Day highlighting the role the media can play in promoting accurate, scientifically-backed and 'life-saving' public information

An elderly man,, wearing a face mask, walks past a closed restaurant in Madrid, during the hours allowed by the government to exercise, for the first time since the beginning of a national lockdown to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 disease. AFP

An anti lockdown protester is detained by police officers in London, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease, London, Britain. Reuters

A young boy from a migrant workers' family waves from a railway compartment before the departure of a special train to Agra in Uttar Pradesh state during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against the coronavirus, at Sabarmati Railway Station on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. AFP

Thailand's Queen Suthida as she sews a face mask that will be donated to the public as a preventive measure against the spread of the coronavirus in Bangkok. AFP

People sit maintaining social distancing as Frontier Corps (FC) personnel distribute food on a street during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against the coronavirus, in Quetta. AFP

People visit the Empty Sky Memorial as the The One World Trade Center in New York is seen from Liberty State Park after many New Jersey Parks set to re-open during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease in Jersey City, New Jersey. Reuters

An Imam wearing a face mask wait for the start of the awareness campaign and distribution of sanitary products to people of extreme vulnerability by the REVOCAP association, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease, in Liberte 6 Baraka district of Dakar, Senegal. Reuters

Benjamin Hassan, a German ATP player wears a face mask as he warms up for an exhibition tennis match played without spectators and broadcasted by remote controlled cameras, during the spread of the coronavirus disease in a tennis academy in Hoehr-Grenzhausen, near Koblenz, Germany. Reuters

A young girl reacts as a Kenyan ministry of health medical worker takes a swab during mass tasting in an effort to fight against the spread of the coronavirus disease in the Kawangware neighbourhood of Nairobi, Kenya. Reuters

A Vietnamese volunteer prepares packages of food and protective masks for Vietnamese people in need and living in Japan, amid the coronavirus disease, at Nisshinkutsu temple in Tokyo, Japan. Reuters

A man walks through smoke generated by Nairobi municipality worker in an effort to fight against the spread of the coronavirus disease in the Kawangware neighborhood of Nairobi, Kenya. Reuters

A staff member of the Ministry of Health takes samples from a boy during the first day of mass testing of the coronavirus in Djibouti. AFP

More protection is needed for journalists providing the “antidote” to a pandemic of misinformation surrounding Covid-19, UN head Antonio Guterres said on Sunday to mark World Press Freedom Day.

Accurate information, he said, was a life or death issue amid a global pandemic that has claimed the lives of over 240,000 people and infected nearly 3.5 million. Over 1 million globally have recovered from the respiratory illness that can prove more fatal in the elderly or those with pre-existing conditions.

“As the pandemic spreads, it has also given rise to a second pandemic of misinformation, from harmful health advice to wild conspiracy theories”, he said. “The press provides the antidote: verified, scientific, fact-based news and analysis.”

He explained that as time has gone on both the UN and the World Health Organisation have had to focus on countering misinformation in what the body’s head called an “info-demic.”

In his Press Freedom Day message, the UN chief thanked the media “for providing facts and analysis; for holding leaders – in every sector – accountable; and for speaking truth to power”.

He concluded by saying, “we call on governments to protect media workers, and to strengthen and maintain press freedom, which is essential for a future of peace, justice and human rights for all”, he concluded.

Mr Guterres has previously warned about “snake-oil solutions,” falsehoods, and wild conspiracy theories. He has urged social media organizations to do more to counter the misinformation and to “root out hate and harmful assertions about Covid-19.”

Last month, he said that the UN was getting in touch with social media companies to discuss more ways to prevent the spread of misinformation and disinformation.

Tech giants have taken some steps – such as popular messing platform WhatsApp has limited the number of times a message can be forwarded – in a bid to stop false messages spreading.

On the WHO’s coronavirus myth buster website, it says that “hot peppers, though very tasty, cannot prevent the spread of Covid-19.” Among dozens of warnings, the WHO also said that ingesting bleach, ethanol or methanol will not cure the virus and can be dangerous, that houseflies are not known to spread the virus and Covid-19 cannot be carried by or caused by radio waves - meaning that 5g mobile networks are not to blame.