United Nations Countering 'Deadly Disinformation' Through Creation Of 'Digital Army'

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/united-nations-countering-deadly-disinformation-through-creation-digital-army

In an Aug. 19 press release, U.N. officials said peacekeepers throughout the world are building the "digital army" through smartphones, editing apps, and "innovative approaches" as part of efforts to "fight back against falsehoods that can trigger tensions, violence, or even death."

The intergovernmental organization has also been monitoring how mis- and disinformation and hate speech can "attack health, security, stability" as well as progress towards its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), officials said.

"Digital platforms are crucial tools that have transformed social, cultural, and political interactions everywhere. Across the world, they connect concerned global citizens on issues that matter," U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said in a policy brief (pdf) published in June on information integrity on digital platforms.

Such platforms have "given people hope in times of crisis and struggle, amplified voices that were previously unheard, and breathed life into global movements," Mr. Guterres wrote.

However, they have also "exposed a darker side of the digital ecosystem," the U.N. secretary-general noted.

"They have enabled the rapid spread of lies and hate, causing real harm on a global scale," he wrote in the brief. "Optimism over the potential of social media to connect and engage people has been dampened as mis- and disinformation and hate speech have surged from the margins of digital space into the mainstream. The danger cannot be overstated."

The U.N. policy brief acknowledges that there are "no universally accepted definitions" of the term "disinformation" but says the U.N.'s own working definition of the term refers to "false information"