Qatar

Doha – Information Office – 01 September

In collaboration with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and Aljazeera English channel, Doha Forum held its first virtual panel this year, titled :"The Pandemic and the Infodemic: Disinformation in the Modern Age."

The discussion featured director of Freedom of Expression and Media Development at UNESCO Guy Berger, Dean of the College of Health Sciences at Qatar University Dr. Hanan Abdulrahim, and was moderated by Folly Bah Thibault, the principal presenter at Aljazeera English.

Dr. Abdulrahim said during the discussion that "we need to call out the misinformation and disinformation and hold people accountable, but in the long-term, it is important to educate the public on assessing claims. This problem will not end with COVID-19."

Berger agreed, saying that "the key moment in the whole process is not the fact that there are bad actors, but the transmission between these and the audiences is the big companies, who are not doing enough to stop promoting misinformation," he said.

"As long as there is a vacuum in information, it will give room to misinformation and disinformation. We need to feel comfortable communicating on uncertainty and get the public involved on this journey," Dr. Abdulrahim added.

Berger argued that the problem is not freedom of expression, which is what exposes and debunks lies. "Governments need to allow media to be free and need to be far more transparent with their statistics to avoid creating a vacuum for disinformation to rush into".

Doha Forum is a global platform for dialogue, bringing together leaders in policy to build innovative and action driven networks.