AP: U.N. chief: world faces misinformation epidemic about virus
“U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres warned Tuesday that the world is facing ‘a dangerous epidemic of misinformation’ about COVID-19 and announced a U.N. campaign to flood the internet with facts and science to counter what he called ‘a poison’ that is putting lives at risk…” (Lederer, 4/14).

Devex: The community engagement lessons being used to fight COVID-19
“…COVID-19 has to date been confirmed in 184 countries across all seven continents, with over 1.4 million confirmed COVID-19 cases globally, and more than 82,000 deaths, as of April 8. This poses an enormous task for organizations involved in risk communication and community engagement work. But the situation also reinforces the critical role of local organizations and volunteers…” (Ravelo, 4/15).

POLITICO: One-third of people have seen misleading info on Covid-19 on social media
“Roughly one in three people across the United States, Spain, Germany, United Kingdom, Argentina, and South Korea say they’ve seen false or misleading information on social media linked to the coronavirus, according to a new report. The analysis, published Wednesday by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford, comes as Facebook and Google say they’ve pulled out all the stops to clamp down on how misinformation about Covid-19 is shared on their networks…” (Scott, 4/15).

U.N. News: Hatred going viral in ‘dangerous epidemic of misinformation’ during COVID-19 pandemic
“…First, [Guterres] urged, ‘trust in science.’ He also saluted the journalists and others who are fact-checking the mountain of misleading stories and social media posts. ‘Social media companies must do more to root out hate and harmful assertions about COVID-19,’ he stressed. Secondly, he advocated for trust in institutions that are grounded in responsive, responsible, evidence-based governance, and leadership. And finally, he emphasized that we need ‘trust in each other,’ with mutual respect and human rights as our ‘compass’ to navigate this crisis…” (4/14).