This is the first UN resolution that calls for getting to grips with problems in the information environment, including the fight against the spread of disinformation and misinformation.
"With this initiative, Latvia is going ahead with its last year’s efforts to address disinformation challenges in the UN framework, including in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic (the so-called infodemic)," the MFA said.
The “Global Media and Information Literacy Week” resolution encourages all UN member states, UN bodies, social media companies and other relevant partners and stakeholders to mark the Global Media and Information Literacy Week, focusing on disinformation challenges.
Pursuant to a UNESCO decision, this theme is observed each year in the week running from 24 to 31 October 2020. The resolution aims at raising an individual’s ability to orient themselves in and navigate through the information space as well as fighting disinformation and misinformation, while at the same time upholding freedom of speech and freedom of the media.
"I am happy that so many UN member states from various regions across the globe have supported our initiative. In particular, I would like to thank our Jamaican and Australian colleagues at the United Nations in New York for their leadership and support," the Ambassador of Latvia to the United Nations in New York, Andrejs Pildegovičs said.
Twelve countries from all over the world – Australia, Burkina Faso, Chile, Costa Rica, Georgia, India, Jamaica, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Uganda – contributed to preparing of the resolution having begun the work on the draft toward the end of 2020.
The full resolution text is available here: A/75/L.68 - E - A/75/L.68 -Desktop (undocs.org)
