9 December 2020 (UN News) Prominent journalists and champions of press freedom from across the world are examining ways to overcome increasing challenges facing the media during a two-day online conference organized jointly by the UN’s cultural and educational agency, UNESCO, and the Netherlands.
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UNAMA/Fardin Waezi | A mural on a blast wall in downtown Kabul commemorates journalists killed in Afghanistan in 2016.
[9 December 2020], features interactive panels and discussions covering issues such as investigating the killings of journalists, online violence against women journalists, and the media’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Not only are journalists conveying vital information during the pandemic, they also help us distinguish all manner of truth from falsehood, which is fundamental to our social contract”, said Audrey Azoulay, the UNESCO Director-General.
Luxembourg on 10 December formally launched its campaign to be elected to the UN’s Human Rights Council, where three seats will become available during 2022-2024 in the Western Europe group.
The council’s 47 member countries are divided into five categories, with seven seats reserved for Western Europe & Other countries which, for example, also include Australia, New Zealand and North America.
“Promoting and defending human rights is a priority for our government at national level and in our foreign policy,” said foreign minister Jean Asselborn (LSAP) at the launch. “Luxembourg wants to take responsibility in a multilateral context.”
There are currently three countries Finland, Italy and the grand duchy running for the three seats becoming vacant.
Latvian Foreign Ministers
Edgars Rinkēvičs and Lithuanian Foreign Minister
Linas Linkevičius spoke in support of media freedom in Belarus at the World Conference on Press Freedom organized by UNESCO and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands (December 9-10), naviny.by reported.
Edgars Rinkēvičs, whose words are quoted by the press service of his ministry, emphasized that media freedom and safety of journalists is a priority of Latvia s foreign policy in the field of human rights. He called on the international community to respond resolutely to threats to media freedom, safety, health and life of journalists.
Luxembourg Supports Hague Commitment to Increase Safety of Journalists chronicle.lu - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from chronicle.lu Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Trusted News Initiative to combat spread of harmful vaccine disinformation
The Trusted News Initiative (TNI) has agreed to focus on combatting the spread of harmful vaccine disinformation, following its recent summit, chaired by BBC Director-General, Tim Davie.
The TNI is an industry collaboration of major news and global tech organizations working together to stop the spread of disinformation where it poses risk of real-world harm. With the introduction of several possible new COVID-19 vaccines, there has been a rise of ‘anti-vaccine’ disinformation spreading online to millions of people.
Examples include widely shared memes which link falsehoods about vaccines to freedom and individual liberties. Other posts seek to downplay the risks of coronavirus and suggest there is an ulterior motive behind the development of a vaccine.