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	Harmful information is putting lives at risk during crises by International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC)   Mar. 2026   Harmful information is undermining life-saving humanitarian action at a time when disasters are affecting more people, more often, according to the World Disasters Report 2026, released by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).   Between 2020 and 2024, disasters affected nearly 700 million people, caused more than 105 million displacements, and claimed over 270,000 lives – with the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance more than doubling (INFORM Severity index).   The World Disasters Report 2026 warns that harmful information and dehumanising narratives are increasingly undermining trust, putting the lives of humanitarian workers and communities at risk.   In polarized and politically charged contexts, humanitarian principles such as neutrality and impartiality are increasingly misunderstood, misrepresented or deliberately attacked online.   Drawing on evidence from crises across the world, the report emphasises that trust has become one of the most critical, and fragile, assets in humanitarian action.   Jagan Chapagain, IFRC Secretary General, said:   “In every crisis I have witnessed, information is as essential as food, water and shelter. But when information is false, misleading or deliberately manipulated, it can deepen fear, obstruct humanitarian access and cost lives.”   Global examples of harmful information in action:   Spain: During floods in Valencia, false narratives online accused the Spanish Red Cross of diverting aid to migrants, fuelling xenophobic attacks on volunteers.   South Sudan: Rumours that humanitarian agencies were distributing poisoned food caused people to avoid life-saving aid and led to threats against local Red Cross staff, temporarily disrupting operations.   Lebanon: Overlapping crises saw false claims that volunteers were spreading COVID-19, favouring certain groups in aid distribution, or providing unsafe cholera vaccines, eroding trust and endangering vulnerable communities.   Bangladesh: Despite delivering first aid and assistance across multiple districts during a period of political unrest, volunteers faced widespread accusations of inaction and political alignment, leading to harassment and long-term reputational damage.   The report highlights that around 94 per cent of disasters are managed by national authorities and local communities without international assistance. However, while volunteers, local leaders and community media are often the most trusted messengers, they operate in increasingly hostile and polarised information environments.   Mr. Chapagain added: “Without trust, people are less likely to prepare, seek help or follow life-saving guidance; with it, communities act together, absorb shocks and recover more effectively. Maintaining trust is not optional – it is a humanitarian necessity.”   The World Disasters Report 2026 calls on governments, technology companies, humanitarian agencies, communities and local actors to recognise that trustworthy information is a matter of life and death. Recommendations include:   Technology platforms: Prioritise authoritative information from trusted humanitarian, health and local actors in crisis contexts. Provide low-bandwidth, multilingual, and locally relevant tools and transparently moderate harmful content.   States and policymakers: Invest in evidence-based regulation and support local data systems that monitor crises and harmful information, strengthening transparency, accountability and an environment that enables principled humanitarian action.   Humanitarian agencies: Embed harmful information preparedness into humanitarian operations as a core function, with trained teams, standardised tools, predictive analytics, and strong community engagement to anticipate, detect, and respond to harmful narratives.   Communities and local actors: Act as trusted messengers, support digital and media literacy, participate in rumour tracking, and ensure local perspectives shape responses to safeguard access and trust – recognising that communities are central to the solution.   The World Disaster Report 2026 is available to policymakers, practitioners, researchers, and the public, providing a roadmap for building resilience to harmful information before, during, and after crises.   http://www.ifrc.org/press-release/ifrc-warns-harmful-information-putting-lives-risk-during-crises   Mar. 2026   Disinformation undermining humanitarian action. (The Lancet)   A new report by the IFRC shows how disinformation fuels hostility and leads to health-harming choices. John Zarocostas reports.   The surge in harmful disinformation is undermining humanitarian action and putting the lives of aid workers and communities at risk, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has warned in its annual disaster report, published on March 5. Drawing on global evidence, the report says that trust is one of the most fragile assets in humanitarian action.   In his foreword, Jagan Chapagain, IFRC Secretary-General, said that “In every crisis I have witnessed...information is as essential as food, water, and shelter. But information can also cause harm. When false, misleading or deliberately manipulated, it can deepen fear, fuel discrimination, obstruct humanitarian access and cost lives.” Addressing harmful information “requires a shift in mindset”, the report concludes, cautioning that trust in institutions will likely continue to decline.   Gisella Lomax, Senior Advisor on Information Integrity at the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told The Lancet that threats to information integrity on and off digital platforms, such as misinformation, disinformation, and hate speech, “are no longer a peripheral issue for humanitarian action—they are a direct operational and protection risk, especially in conflict and crises”.   Chikwe Ihekweazu, Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, told The Lancet: “Harmful information, as outlined in the report, can have a two-fold impact on delivering humanitarian assistance: it can fuel hostility and create fear towards communities and humanitarian workers, and can also lead people to make unsafe choices. One of these would be avoiding treatment for a health condition.”   The IFRC cites several examples of the impact that harmful information has had on humanitarian action. During the 2024 floods in Valencia, false narratives online accused the Spanish Red Cross of diverting aid to migrants, “fuelling xenophobic attacks on volunteers”. In Lebanon, amid overlapping crises, there were false claims, the IFRC said, that volunteers were spreading COVID-19, favouring certain groups in aid distribution, or providing unsafe cholera vaccines, eroding trust and endangering vulnerable communities.   Christina Wille, Director of Insecurity Insight, which contributed case studies to the report, told The Lancet that her organisation noticed links between false narratives and attacks on health responses during the 2019 Ebola outbreak in DR Congo. “We recorded 87 health workers killed and multiple health facilities set on fire”, Wille said. “Many of these attacks were driven by false claims about where the disease came from, how quarantined patients were being treated, and why the death toll was so high.”   Over the past decade, she said, 137 vaccination workers have been killed worldwide, including 81 during polio campaigns. Wille noted that misperceptions about the purpose and safety of vaccines have played a significant role. “Rumours and conspiracy narratives don’t just undermine public trust. In some contexts, they translate directly into resistance and targeted violence against frontline health workers.”   Lomax said that the majority of UNHCR personnel in 75 countries had witnessed hate speech and that misinformation and disinformation had negatively affected the delivery of UNHCR's mandate.   “Misinformation and disinformation are weakening the foundations of humanitarian health work. When trust in reliable information erodes, essential decisions—such as vaccinating a child, seeking care, or following outbreak guidance—can become harder for some to make”, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, told The Lancet.   “At the same time, false narratives can isolate communities from those working to support them, even putting some health workers at risk. Protecting health today requires not only effective medicines and vaccines, but also safeguarding the integrity of the information people rely on”, he added.   Pascal Barollier, Chief External Engagement Officer at Gavi, told The Lancet, “vaccine mis- and dis-information is often thought of only as a problem of the Global North. This is not the case, and while it is true that vaccine confidence in Gavi-supported lower-income countries remains strong, we are hearing more and more that exposure to false or misleading content online is impacting vaccination rates.”   The IFRC calls for a shift from reactive response to resilience to counter a problem expected to intensify with artificial intelligence, enabling the large-scale creation and spread of harmful content. The organisation recommends that states and policy makers invest in evidence-based regulation, integrate harmful information management into crisis preparedness and response frameworks, invest in early warning and verification systems to deliver reliable information, and empower communities and local actors.   It also urges technology platforms to prioritise authoritative information from trusted humanitarian, health, and local actors in crisis contexts and the rapid moderation of harmful content.   http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(26)00507-6/fulltext Visit the related web page
	Impact of disinformation on the enjoyment and realization of human rights by UN Human Rights Council Advisory Committee   Lies spread faster than the truth. Impact of disinformation on the enjoyment and realization of human rights - United Nations Human Rights Council Advisory Committee (Extract):   Digital technologies and social media platforms have drastically changed the global information environment. These advancements have democratized access to information and enhanced the communication and dissemination of ideas of all kinds, facilitating the dissemination of and access to disinformation.   While disinformation and the involvement of State, corporate and other actors are not new, disinformation is now spread at a larger scale owing to digital technologies, posing a risk to the integrity of the information system, including to existing processes for assessing the veracity of information.   The inability to verify information undermines freedom of information. Disinformation is used as a weapon against minorities and opponents to threaten, discriminate and silence, and thus corrodes freedom of expression and other rights.   This evolution is taking place against the backdrop of growing authoritarianism and democratic backsliding, the undermining of the international public order, diminishing trust in conventional media and public institutions, poor media literacy, the digital divide, wealth inequalities, polarization and a triple planetary crisis (climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution).   As acknowledged and shown in United Nations resolutions, reports and other documents, disinformation can pose a threat to democracy and the protection and realization of human rights worldwide. For that reason, the United Nations has encouraged measures to enhance access to accurate and trustworthy information and to tackle manipulated and fake information that is intended to cause harm.   United Nations reports make it clear that businesses’ hunger for profit spurs disinformation, and social media companies’ thirst for profit drives the online disinformation machinery. Politicians with conflicting interests have financial and other incentives to spread disinformation. As a result, the ability of Governments to adopt policies based on the best available scientific evidence across all domains is significantly undermined.   The deliberate spread of false information can manipulate public discourse, silence dissenting voices and hinder the free flow of ideas, including with respect to access to scientific and evidence-based information and diverse sources. This has an impact on the ability to engage in informed decision-making, on human agency and on the exercise of other rights, such as the right to health.   Social factors that facilitate the spread and impact of disinformation include political polarization; a lack of media and information literacy; economic barriers in accessing information; an overall decline in trust in society, in particular towards established actors such as traditional media and journalists, which is further compounded by increased harassment of and violence against journalists and decreased funding of traditional media; and the emergence of digital content creators and influencers as new information channels.   Legal factors enabling disinformation include impunity and weak rule of law, the misuse of legal measures, insufficient protection in law or practice of the right to freedom of expression and media independence, the inability of institutions to adapt to fast-changing technological developments, and a lack of accountability, transparency and human rights due diligence on the part of digital platforms.   While States and their conduct in practice and regulation play a central role in the spread of disinformation, it is also facilitated by new digital technologies, artificial intelligence, and the business models of the largest technology companies. Social media platforms and search engines, programmed to optimize the spread of inflammatory content, targeted advertising and the data-harvesting practices of companies drive users towards extreme content and conspiracy theories in ways that feed and amplify disinformation, while diminishing users’ capacities to develop their own views.   In accordance with the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, technology and social media companies have a responsibility to prevent, mitigate and remedy human rights abuses; this includes refraining from amplifying or ignoring disinformation that features or perpetuates false and violent content for the sake of engagement and profit.   The State must protect against human rights abuses, including by business enterprises, and take appropriate steps to prevent, investigate, punish and redress such abuse through effective policies, legislation, regulations, adjudication and international cooperation. However, both State and businesses’ responses to threats to human rights have been inadequate and inappropriate.   Often in collaboration with States and other actors, technology companies wield control over information at the expense of the public by having access to an unprecedented volume of data. The asymmetry of power in favour of the profit-driven businesses is enhanced by keeping digital advertising processes complex and opaque, with minimal human oversight.   New and emerging technologies play a vital role in creating and disseminating disinformation. On social platforms, in particular, users upload information, which algorithms then position based on its virality. Platforms can create echo chambers, allowing false narratives to take root and spread within specific communities. This can reinforce existing biases, incite hatred, fuel stereotyping and prevent exposure to diverse perspectives.   As for the individual spreaders of disinformation online, one survey indicates that influencers and personalities (according to 47% of respondents), along with national politicians (also referenced by 47% of respondents), are seen as the biggest threat worldwide.   Artificial intelligence has significantly amplified these challenges. Artificial intelligence-powered tools can generate convincing fake content, including deepfakes (manipulated videos and audio) that are increasingly difficult for humans to detect as manipulated.   Artificial intelligence algorithms can also be used to automate the creation and dissemination of disinformation campaigns, allowing malicious actors to operate at scale and speed, overwhelming traditional fact-checking and content moderation efforts.   Disinformation may challenge access to the free flow of information because it can silence some voices or come to dominate the information space, making it more difficult for people to assess the source of information. This weakens the ability to form informed opinions, participate meaningfully in democratic processes and make informed decisions about one’s life.   Access to health-related information is considered an underlying determinant of the right to health, and entails the right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas concerning health issues. False claims about the causes, treatments or prevention of diseases can have serious consequences for public health.   Misleading information about vaccines, for example, can lead to vaccine hesitancy and lower vaccination rates, jeopardizing public health efforts. The World Health Organization (WHO) has noted the negative impact of disinformation on preparedness and response to health emergencies, and on people’s physical and mental health.   Disinformation also has a negative impact on the right, as recognized by the General Assembly, to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. It undercuts the procedural components of that right: access to information, public participation and access to justice. It also erodes the substantive components in terms of undermining environmental rule-making and the implementation of standards.   Disinformation affects women in specific ways due to existing gender inequalities and discriminatory social norms. Disinformation targeting women often exploits gender-based stereotypes, reinforces misogyny and uses sexualized or violent narratives to silence and marginalize their voices, particularly in public life.   Disinformation particularly harms historically and systemically marginalized groups, including racial, ethnic and religious minorities, Indigenous Peoples, and other socially excluded communities, such as persons experiencing homelessness. It reinforces stereotypes, spreads falsehoods, incites discrimination and ultimately deepens existing inequalities.   Racially charged disinformation, in particular, has been used to scapegoat communities, distort historical narratives and justify exclusionary or repressive policies.   Disinformation is often deployed to amplify existing prejudices and social hierarchies. Marginalized groups are frequent targets of false narratives that dehumanize or criminalize them or delegitimize their presence in public discourse. These tactics further erode trust in institutions, contribute to social division and diminish political participation among affected communities.   Disinformation poses a profound threat to human rights defenders, undermining their work, safety and legitimacy. Deliberate campaigns of false or misleading information are used to delegitimize human rights advocacy, discredit defenders and restrict civic space. These attacks involve State and non-State actors exploiting digital platforms to manipulate narratives, incite public hostility and justify surveillance, harassment or criminalization.   An emergent concern identified in the study is disinformation specifically directed at “human rights”, the United Nations system, multilateralism and multiculturalism. Disinformation campaigns increasingly use false information to discredit the general notion of international cooperation and to erode international and regional human rights institutions, international law, United Nations entities, in particular certain agencies, high-level United Nations representatives and international and supranational courts.   Furthermore, such disinformation campaigns are aimed at delegitimizing the work of human rights organizations by portraying them as biased, corrupt or foreign agents. Such disinformation can be applied in a deliberate attempt to distort the understanding of human rights and international law.   Human rights treaties are deliberately misrepresented in order to undermine their public and political support. This creates an environment in which the upholding and progressive development of human rights standards are undermined, and human rights violations are more likely to occur or go unchallenged.   Armed conflicts are fertile ground for disinformation. Disinformation is used to justify the conflict, shift responsibilities and dehumanize the enemy, other groups or populations.   Today, disinformation is considered a key part of information or hybrid warfare. The Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression has noted that digital technology has made it easier for States and non-State actors to interfere in conflicts from across borders.   She has highlighted that State-led disinformation has a potent impact on human rights, the rule of law, democratic processes, national sovereignty and geopolitical stability because of the resources and reach of States and because of their ability to simultaneously suppress independent voices so that there can be no challenge to the official narratives.   Disinformation in armed conflict is all the more devastating, as the right to information in armed conflict functions as a “survival right”, upon which people’s lives, health and safety directly depend.66 Disinformation in conflict zones can misdirect civilians into danger, create panic and undermine humanitarian efforts. It affects not only conflict and warfare, but also peacekeeping and monitoring.   Lack of access to conflict zones by journalists greatly enables the spread of State propaganda and disinformation. The warring countries’ State-owned and State-controlled media can create and amplify disinformation on air, in print and on social media platforms.   Disinformation poses a profound threat to democratic processes, including elections. Election integrity and information integrity are closely connected. By manipulating public opinion, eroding trust and distorting decision-making, disinformation undermines the integrity of elections, weakens democratic institutions and polarizes societies.   Disinformation campaigns can be used to suppress dissent and manipulate political narratives. In that regard, disinformation can be weaponized by political actors in pursuit of specific political objectives. In particular, populist politicians and authoritarian Governments resort to information manipulation, which in turn is enabled and amplified by digital technology into a tsunami of disinformation, misinformation and hate speech.   Modern societies depend on epistemic trust, which allows ordinary people to rely on scientific conclusions as reliable and relevant guidance for their lives. Disinformation ruptures this trust by undermining peoples’ ability to distinguish between reliable and unreliable sources.   “Conspiracy theories” – deliberate instruments of disinformation campaigns – provide simple, emotionally satisfying narratives that reduce scientific complexity and nuance to simplistic dualities.   “Conspiracy theories” create false equivalence by presenting theories based on disinformation as legitimate alternatives to scientific consensus. To undermine established science, disinformation is directed at traditional science-generating entities such as universities, public health agencies and climate research bodies.   For decades, major fossil fuel corporations and other businesses, including in the chemicals, plastics and agroindustry sectors, have been funding efforts to cast doubt on environmental science and delay global action to protect the environment.   They have exploited insufficient regulatory frameworks and the absence of adequate accountability to undermine awareness of the severity of the triple planetary crisis and redirect responsibility to consumers; falsely framed emissions reduction as economically unfeasible; promoted ineffective and unproven technological solutions; launched targeted campaigns against scientists, whistle-blowers and environmental human rights defenders; and used litigation, such as strategic litigation against public participation, to counter efforts to hold them accountable for their human rights and environmental violations.   Today, environmental disinformation is spread through a vast number of methods targeting a broad range of issues beyond climate change, including land degradation, plastic and chemical pollution, extractive activities and food and water security.   Disinformation not only distorts public understanding of environmental issues, but also actively obstructs policymaking. It undermines urgent climate action, including for a just transition, and erodes public trust in climate science by spreading false narratives about climate science, policy and solutions.   The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has argued that climate disinformation contributes to misperceptions of the scientific consensus, creates uncertainty and disregards the risk and urgency of the climate crisis.   The Secretary-General has warned that the ability to disseminate large-scale disinformation undermines scientifically established facts is an existential risk to humanity.   All States should create and foster an environment in which everyone has access to reliable, accurate and evidence-based information, and in which the value of that information is affirmed.   States should strengthen efforts through policy frameworks, regulations and the development of national action plans on business and human rights to hold social media and artificial intelligence companies responsible for respecting human rights and implementing practices on due diligence, transparency and accountability, as outlined in the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and other relevant United Nations frameworks.   Lies spread faster than the truth. These problems are about to become exponentially bigger with the omnipresence of artificial intelligence, pushing societies into an epistemological crisis - (how we know things, what knowledge is, and how we prove what is true).. http://docs.un.org/en/A/HRC/61/68   June 2026   Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Irene Khan.   In this report, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression examines how the intersection of public and private powers and the convergence of geopolitical and corporate interests driving the digital revolution is advancing a new global agenda on freedom of opinion and expression and exploiting the vulnerabilities of this right.   She analyses the wider implications of the paradigm shift in the governance of freedom of opinion and expression. She examines how States, aided, abetted and aggravated by new technologies, are reducing the space for freedom of opinion and expression, online and offline, and its negative impact on gender inequality, children’s safety and media decline.   The Special Rapporteur looks at the governance, oligarchic structure and culture of large digital platforms and artificial intelligence companies, as well as the complex relations between the corporate actors and States, from regulation and adjudication to collusion and co-optation. She concludes by drawing attention to the reforms and initiatives seeking to reclaim and revitalize freedom of opinion and expression as a fundamental pillar of democracy and sustainable development.   http://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/sessions-regular/session62/advance-versions/a-hrc-62-67-aev.pdf Visit the related web page
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