85% of people worry about online disinformation, global survey finds
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UN announces plan to tackle phenomenon as survey finds people worry particularly about impact on elections.
By Jon Henley Europe correspondent
More than 85% of people are worried about the impact of online disinformation and 87% believe it has already harmed their country’s politics, according to a global survey, as the United Nations announced a plan to tackle the phenomenon.
Audrey Azoulay, director general of the UN’s culture body, Unesco, told reporters on Monday that false information and hate speech online – accelerated and amplified by social media platforms – posed ‘major risks to social cohesion, peace and stability’.
Regulation was urgently needed ‘to protect access to information … while at the same time protecting freedom of expression and human rights’, Azoulay said as she presented a ‘governance blueprint’ for governments, regulators and platforms.
A Unesco-commissioned survey in 16 countries due to hold national elections next year – with a total of 2.5 billion voters...
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