PAUSE. TAKE CARE BEFORE YOU SHARE! The virus of misinformation is, if not more dangerous than pandemics! Misinformation spreads fast around the world and can be passed unintentionally from one person to countless others. Misinformation can be often deadly but can be stopped if everyone takes the right steps.
When COVID-19 emerged, it was clear from the outset this was not only a public health emergency but a huge communications crisis as well, which we are still facing today. With a massive public demand for information about the pandemic and the rapid dissemination of misinformation, the “infodemic” put many lives at risk and increased reluctance to vaccinate.
Misinformation is happening among our friends and families. We all have a close friend or a family member who firmly believes in the miracle cure for COVID-19 that the mainstream media doesn’t want you to know about, or that the pandemic is in fact a ‘plandemic’ – deliberately created to make someone a fortune or to subjugate the masses.
Since censorship is out of the question as it would curb freedom of speech. Many initiatives were launched to equip people with the tools to see fact from fiction. Pause. take care before you share is one of them, launched by the United Nation to foster behavior change and counter the spread of misinformation regarding COVID-19 pandemic.
While this initiative was created to face the pandemic misinformation, we hope it starts to be a social norm with regard to all vital issues such as climate change denial. If people have in the back of their heads to fact-check any info they see online before sharing this will enable a personal behavior change.
PAUSE. TAKE CARE BEFORE YOU SHARE… START BY YOURSELF!
Join the Pause campaign on social media using the #Takecarebeforeyoushare hashtag.
We are working hard to bring you the latest fact-checked information and tools. Donate every time you read disinformation and the money will be used to pay a fact-checking ad!
Emma Suleiman
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