As the COVID-19 outbreak continues spreading worldwide, a rapid increase in disinformation, conspiracy theories and unverified speculations about the virus and its transmission are being witnessed. The impact of disinformation and misinformation in this context is potentially more dangerous as it is a driver of the crisis itself. To address this issue, UNESCO launched the online campaign aimed to counter disinformation, fight discrimination, and promote best practices.
As part of this campaign, UNESCO released a series of visual and graphic messages on media and information literacy (MIL) for educators, parents and students. The produced materials are meant to contribute to the development of MIL skills and promote best practices to critically analyse information and to navigate through the overwhelming amount of news and headlines on the virus.
The materials are available in six languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. They are open access and free to be used, downloaded and shared.
Being a part of UNESCO education team, UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (UNESCO IITE) works consistently through a variety of projects to promote MIL for ensuring quality and inclusiveness of learning and teaching. Being equipped with MIL skills and capable to control emotional reaction, having access to credible information sources are crucial for affronting the current emergency situation as well as building more media literate and tolerant societies in the long-term perspective.
Download all the graphics in English.
