The World Health Organization (WHO) hosted the 3rd WHO Infodemic Management conference from 20 October - 11 December 2020. The conference theme was ‘Whole-of-society challenges and solutions to respond to infodemics’. Participants came together for discussions at a unique time in the pandemic, on the cusp of the introduction of COVID-19 vaccines and the commencement of vaccination roll-outs. Now, a comprehensive conference report including key outcomes and insights has been released.
Over the 6 weeks, conference participants came together from across society, including youth activists, community leaders, scientists, journalists, data scientists and technicians, policy-makers, technology companies, Non-government organizations (NGO), health authorities, UN staff and others. There were over 200 participating organizations, hundreds of panellists and thousands of people attending the panels. This reflected a true whole-of-society approach to engagement, and the conference aimed to set new standards for what can be achieved with a remote, virtual approach.
The conference comprised 21 different online dialogues, workshops and webinars discussing infodemic challenges and approaches and ways to catalyse action. The meetings were organized over six subject tracks for six stakeholder groups with particular, immediate potential to address infodemics. These were:
- The science and research community
- Country health authorities
- Technology companies and social media platforms
- NGOs and civil society groups
- Media and journalism
- UN agencies and multilateral organizations
In each of the subject tracks, participants discussed challenges, approaches and action points. For example, after the conference civil society representatives and advocates released a statement outlining the key challenges and solutions they had collaboratively formulated through conference workshops. The statement included succinct ‘asks’ for multilateral organizations, government agencies, media practitioners and others to support their identified solutions.
“As civil society leaders, we are committed to infodemic management that is driven by and for communities”
Ian Soh. Founder of a global COVID-19 youth movement - MoreViralThanThe Virus.
These outcomes were presented at a live session on 11 December 2021, and are now available in the conference report. The common conclusions that ran across all the tracks were those that emphasized the whole-of-society theme. Managing the infodemic is a challenge for all professions and there is a need for increased collaboration and partnerships, for better tools and systems for verifying, clarifying and sharing information, and for coordinated approaches to reach the most vulnerable and excluded populations around the world who are most at risk from COVID-19.
A significant strength of the conference approach was the multidisciplinary nature of participants, who all declared a shared commitment to managing and mitigating infodemics in support of equitable health and well-being. Reflecting on the work, Andrew Pattison Team Lead of Digital Channels at WHO said:
“What usually happens when the WHO paints a picture of problems, the tech industry has a set of solutions on hand. And, where the problem and the solutions overlap is the sweet spot for collaboration. There is where the WHO can start doing projects very quickly”
Delegates developed a Call to Action,
promoting a global movement to promote access to health information and
to mitigate harm from health misinformation among online and offline
communities. This call remains open for every organization and person to
add their name and show solidarity and commitment to the cause.
Materials and videos from the conference are available online to view on
the conference website here.
This conference was the third in an ongoing series of infodemic management conferences organized by WHO since April 2020. The first two conferences established a global infodemic management framework, 50 key actions for infodemic response, and a public health research and practice agenda to find effective, evidence-based measures to fight infodemics. In May 2021, a fourth focussed on Advances in social listening for public health, and the fifth conference, in November 2021, focused on Measuring the burden of infodemic.
