An “alarming” two-thirds of digital content creators share unverified information with millions of followers, according to a Nov. 27 UNESCO “landmark study.” The U.N. agency states that it is partnering with the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas to create “the first-ever global training course for digital content creators.”
JNS asked at a U.N. press briefing on Nov. 27 whether officials at the global body will take the course. Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for António Guterres, the U.N. secretary-general, said that the United Nations wants to make sure that everyone associated with it “takes special care not to pass along any disinformation.”
Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur for Palestinian rights, wrote 10 days before the release of the UNESCO report that a “stellar surgeon” was “likely raped to death” in Israeli prison.
“The racism of Western media who are not covering this, and Western politicians who are not denouncing this, together with the thousand other testimonies and allegations of rape and other forms of mistreatment and torture that Palestinians have suffered in Israeli jails, is absolutely sickening,” she wrote.
The U.N. rapporteur shared an image in the social-media post that remains live and has been viewed 4.2 million times, citing Sky News as the source of the story. The post does not link to an article, and a Sky News report on the physician in question makes no mention of him being raped.
JNS asked Haq about the apparently manipulated image posted by the U.N. special rapporteur.
“Of course, I’d remind you that officials, rapporteurs like Ms. Albanese, are independent experts,” he said.
Whether UNESCO would offer its training to U.N. officials is up to the agency, according to Haq. JNS sought comment from UNESCO. A source familiar with the work of the Israeli mission to the United Nations is unaware of any such course offered to U.N. officials.
“From our standpoint, we want to make sure that all officials take special care of that,” Haq told JNS at the press briefing. “We, as spokespeople, for example, try very hard to make sure that our fellow communicators are aware of disinformation and don’t pass it along.”
The United Nations rarely challenges its “independent experts” and special rapporteurs publicly. The U.N. Human Rights Council appoints the latter, who are free to speak without clearance from the global body.
UNESCO’s “innovative, four-week program has already drawn over 9,000 participants from 160 countries, offering comprehensive training in source verification, fact-checking methodology and collaboration with traditional media outlets,” the U.N. agency stated in the report.