“We can’t create new law every time we have new case, but a strong leadership, a strong determination, a strong teamwork and a joint effort,” said Dr. Khieu Kanharith, minister of information, Cambodia. He was giving his keynote address at the Media Dialogue on ‘Disinformation, Legislation, and Freedom of Expression’, organised by Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD), in collaboration with the Ministry of Information, Cambodia.
Referring to the current pandemic the minister said some groups and countries, instead of promoting joint effort to solve the problem, were creating more confusion and chaos for their own interests and benefits. “Cambodia is no exception to this sad event,” he said.
When asked about whether a legislation or a law can help control ‘fake news’, Dr. Lim, Ming-Kuok, Advisor for Communication, UNESCO, Indonesia, said ‘NO’. He added that it is a complex issue and needed multi-faceted approach to the address it.
Making his presentation on ‘International Laws vis-a-viz Freedom of Expression’, Dr Ming-Kuok said there is still a lot one can do before even thinking of restricting freedom of expression by bringing in legislation to address the issue. “We haven’t even done our due diligence, of providing all the alternatives,” he said, adding that freedom of expression is an important individual right, and also an important component for a democratic society.
Dr Ming-Kuok underscored three-part test for permissible restrictions of freedom of expression under the international laws. They are, according to him; legality test, legitimacy test and necessity test.
Speaking on ‘Regulatory options for disinformation’, Dr. Ahmad Helmi Azhar, a public policy analyst from Malaysia, provided four regulatory options. The first one, he said, was engagement and collaborations with platforms and new media. The other three, according to him, are: Digital literacy and awareness campaigns; Fact-Checker and technical standards; and Legislation.
Referring to case studies from other countries, Dr Helmi said, Singapore’s ‘Protection of Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act’ (POFMA) is a good example of state-legislative approach while European Commission’s, a good example of co-regulation approach (see diagram below).
Dr. Masato Kajimoto, Associate Professor with the University of Hong Kong said media literacy education is the answer but there are lot of limitations. “The results are not immediate and it is not a good tool to fight something like the current pandemic, because you need the actions and reactions immediately,” he said.
The other limitations, he highlighted, were diverse competencies (IT and communication skills), few teachers who can teach media literacy, sensitivity and lack of coordination among multiple stakeholders.
Dr Masato made some proposals; that all teachers must be trained and there should be daily myth busting in classroom. For instance, he said, science teachers can de-bunk COVID-19 rumours, likewise geography teachers about flat earth theory and history teachers about alternative conspiracies.
Dr. Sara Chinnasamy, Associate Professor & Political and Social Media Analyst based in Malaysia spoke on misinformation/disinformation in the Asia-Pacific Region and its implications. Dr. Antoon De Rycker Associate Professor of Berjaya University College in Malaysia and Dr. Ramachandran Ponan presented preliminary findings of AIBD Angkor Anti-Fake News Research.
More than 70 participants from 12 different countries took part in the webinar on 2nd July, 2020.
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In collaboration with Prasar Bharti (India) and MDEC (Malaysia), AIBD organized a webinar on “Managing Cybersecurity during COVID-19” on 5 May 2020, in which top regional shared their experiences and gave awareness on recent cybersecurity challenges observed during the time of COVID19. Over 200 broadcasters from 30 countries attended the webinar.
Mr Sameer Sharma, Senior Advisor, ITU delivered his keynote on “Building trust in digital world @COVID19” in which he discussed the recent initiatives and achievements of ITU.
Renowned Cybersecurity expert Mr Philip Victor highlighted the importance of saving Child netizens and how to make the internet a safer place for them. Mr Victor Lo and Dr Roshaliza Rosli discussed the Malaysian cybersecurity threat landscape in regards to the recent pandemic situation and how MDEC is trying to cope with the situation to minimize the impact.
Mr Prinya Hom-Aek, President and founder of ACIS Professional centre, delivered his presentation on effective BYOD (Bring your own device) mobile security policy.
Dr Pavan Duggal, Founder and chairman of the International Commission on Cyber Security Law discussed various case studies related to IoT security and how different governments are devising laws and policies to cope up with various challenges.
Mr Manu Zacharia, CEO & Chief Mentor, HackIT Technology and Advisory Services delivered his presentation on the rise of Ransomware and how different strategies can help cybersecurity officers to minimize the threat level.
Dr Amal Punchihewa, a broadcasting consultant from New Zealand, moderated the event.
The event was highly appreciated by the members and cybersecurity experts terming it to be relevant and timely due to current lockdown situation in most of the countries and where many broadcasters and journalists are working from home to broadcast their stories. At the end of the event, Ms Philomena, Director, AIBD mentioned that this is the beginning of this series and various regional workshops will follow it to raise the awareness of cybersecurity in Asia-Pacific region among broadcasters.
Ms Philomena Gnanapragasam, Director, AIBD discusses the recent initiatives & achievements of AIBD during COVID19 crisis, and how institute is helping regional media orgnaisations. This interview was broadcasted by Bernama TV Malaysia on 6th May 2020.
In what was the first ever virtual COVID Response Session for media, more than 150 journalists and experts from 24 countries came together virtually to share and learn from each other. The Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD), as a regional international intergovernmental body, and India’s National Academy of Broadcasting and Multimedia (NABM) organised the Session.
In her opening remarks, the Director of AIBD, Ms Philomena Gnanapragasam, said ‘no one expected that it (pandemic) will last this long’. More than one-third of the world is under lockdown and a Session like this was needed to discuss and share experiences and new ideas. “Along with the health workers, media too are at the frontline of this pandemic,” she said, adding that timely information can not only save lives but also prevent from getting the disease.
The Chief Executive Officer of India’ Public Service Broadcaster, Prasar Bharati, Mr. Shashi Shekhar Vempati, said the responsibilities of the media, especially that of Public Service Broadcasters, have significantly gone up, not only in providing news and information, but also to keep the citizens engaged at home so that the social distancing and lockdown remain effective.
One of the main speakers, Dr. Liviu Vedrasco, WHO COVID-10 Asia-Pacific Liaison based in Thailand, said humanity has not faced such a crisis in the last 100 years. The closest one, he said, was the 1918 influenza pandemic. In this crisis, the ‘whole of society’ must respond, and without that it would be difficult to contain the pandemic, Dr Vedrasco opined.
He highlighted ‘Five Principles’ as the foundation of a United COVID-19 response system. The first one he said was the ‘Whole-of-Society’, in which all governments, businesses, and civil societies must communicate and come together. The second one; there should be ‘Readiness at all levels’. The third one, according to Dr. Vedrasco is an important one; Critical Interdependencies. He said attention must be given to nine critical sectors (Food, Water, Health, Energy, Transport, Finance, Telecom, Law and Order, and Defence), regardless of the level and size of a country. “Failure of one or more of these services can have major economic, health and social consequences”.
The last two ones, equally important, he added, were ‘severity-based response’ and ‘respect ethical norms’ by protecting the vulnerable and disadvantaged sections of the population.
On the role of media during a crisis like this he suggested three distinct areas; to simplify public health authorities’ messages, report on government response and communities reactions, and bring into public consciousness the positive stories of extraordinary solidarity, passion and generosity.
The risk is real, said Dr. Ming-Kuok Lim, Advisor for Communication and Information, UNESCO Office in Jakarta. “The potential of getting infection and infecting others must be considered when reporting from locations,” he highlighted. In a crisis like this the journalists, he added, must familiarise themselves with all the recommendations provided by health officials. The emotional and psychological health while on assignments can emotionally draining, and therefore, the journalists should be aware of their own mental health, he said.
Speaking from the disaster management perspective, Dr. Surya Prakash, Head of Geo-meteorological Risk Management Division of India’s National Institute for Disaster Management (NIDM), said there is a need for international and national collaborations, command and control systems for effective response and recovery. Since there is a lack of international frameworks to manage this criss, he suggested taking advantage of the SENDAI Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, where 190 countries are signatory to it.
The Assistant Professor at National of Mental Health and Neurosceinces in India, Dr. Jaya Kumar, stressed on the need to incorporate psychosocial counselling and support in a crisis like this where people are forced to stay indoors with minimum interactions. “There should be psychosocial monitoring and helplines created at centre, state and district level,” he suggested.
The Experience Sharing Session
Media experts from Hong Kong, Korea, India, and France shared their experiences on how their Channels and Countries are doing in its fight against the pandemic.
Showing the visuals of how his reporters reported from the where the virus first surfaced, the City of Wuhan, Mr Haibo Huang said it took two days to prepare his team to be sent to Wuhan when China announced the lockdown. He is the Deputy Head of Phoenix Chinese Channel based in Hong Kong. He said during a disaster like this media outlets must take calculated risk, and prepare for almost everything. He said his Channel sent 2 teams to Wuhan and did comprehensive reporting from various locations.
At Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), Dr. Kim Youngyiil, Project Manager of EBU and AIBD, said they have established a ‘Integrated Newsroom’ to respond to COVID outbreak. He said it is an initiative to fight against ‘infodemic’ with special kinds of programming. “There is special live programming called ‘Let’s Fight the Corona Virus, where it goes beyond numbers and statistics”. He added that behind these numbers and statistics are actual people. “We show real people, real faces and deliver strong, powerful and positive messages”.
In India, as Bollywood actors and Cricketers are very popular, the national broadcasters have used them to deliver important messages. The Director General of Doordarshan News, Mr. Mayank Agarwal, said they also instituted daily call-in programmes with medical experts to answer people’s queries and a special COVID-19 tracking shows. The Additional Director General of Doordarshan, Mr P.K Subhash, besides airing information and education campaign materials they have re-introduced some of the very popular TV serials of some 20-30 years back. “We have got huge positive response and our viewership has reached 50 to 60 million,” he added.
In France too, more than 75 percent of the airtime is dedicated to corona virus through information, education and entertainment, said Mr Frederic Alliod, who is a regional attache’ for Film, TV, Radio and New Media in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.
In New Zealand, the Prime Minister herself along with relevant officials give press conference every day at a given time, leaving not much room for misinformation, said Dr. Amal Punchihewa, a media consultant (engineer) and an adjunct professor.
The Session was also live streamed on Facebook for those who could not register on time. In some organisations it was projected on a large screen so that more people could follow the Session.
If there is one thing that is spreading faster than the corona virus, then it will be misinformation, rumours and fake news. This was the general consensus among the panelists and experts during the virtual COVID Response Session. “There is a parallel epidemic- grappling with sheer volume of misinformation,” remarked Mr. Shashi Shekhar Vempati, Chief Executive Officer of Prasar Bharati, India’s Public Service Broadcaster.
The Chief Finance Officer of Prasar Bharati and President of AIBD General Conference, Mr. Rajeev Singh, said the role of media has become even more crucial. “Besides its traditional functions of informing and educating, it now have to dispel all wrong notions, apprehensions and misinformation”.
Dr. Ming-Kuok Lim, Advisor for Communication and Information, UNESCO Office in Jakarta said whenever there is a new situation or unknown situation, there will be misinformation. He said there is more of misinformation, where people share unwittingly with others, than disinformation. Disinformation is when people deliberately manufacture wrong information and share for various reasons.
He urged journalists to ensure that the information they are producing should be factually correct. He suggested that media outlets should have fact-checking facility built into their system. “It is a process you have to start building it because when a pandemic like this strikes, at such speed, there is no time”.
There is avalanche of rumours and fake news creating ‘COVID Infodemic’ in the society, said Dr. Liviu Vedrasco, WHO COVID-10 Asia-Pacific Liaison based in Thailand. He said the media should help dispel this and reach out quickly so that it doesn’t distract from the response.
What are media outlets doing?
At Korea Broadcasting System (KBS), Dr. Kim Youngyiil, Project Manager of EBU and AIBD, said one of the reasons for instituting ‘COVID-19 Integrated Newsroom’ was to fight wrong information and rumours circulating in the society. “It is geared towards delivering actual information in a speedy manner,” he said.
The Director General of Doordarshan News, Mr. Mayank Agarwal, said they have formed a WhatsApp Group involving DD News, All India Radio, and Prasar Bharati News Service, to bust misinformation and rumours. All the doubtful materials are screened and fact-checked, he said.
The Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development is conducting a year-long research called ‘Angkor Anti-Fake News’ project. More than 60 questionnaires were collected from member organisations representing almost 20 countries. The outcome will be launched during its General Conference scheduled to be held in August in Laos. Based on the findings and recommendations various trainings and workshops will be planned to train journalists and news organisations.
AIBD will continue to play an active role in SDG advocacy for Asia-Pacific media with the help of U.N bodies, Ms Philomena Gnanapragasam, Director, AIBD.
AIBD Director gave a presentation at United Nations University in Kuala Lumpur on 6 March 2020 to U.N officials representing different bodies i.e. UNICEF, UNHCR, UNFPA, UNU etc. She highlighted AIBD’s collaborated achievements and its long-term partnership with U.N bodies for advocating human developmental issues through Asia-Pacific broadcasting organisations. She emphasized that the institute is well determined to partner with U.N bodies to create various capacity building programmes for regional broadcasters. She also mentioned that recent initiatives regarding training programmes on combating fake news and especially Reporting on Health crisis was well recognized and appreciated by institute’s members.
Sharing her own experiences during the unification of east and west Germany, she said media played a big role in bringing the countries together as one. “I was there in Germany when the unification happened. Much of the credit must go to the media as they constantly reported on people’s plight, their issues and concerns,” she added.
On the role of AIBD, besides building cohesive electronic media environment in the region and beyond, she said the Institute plays a critical role in bringing together media professionals, providing the platform to share ideas and knowledge. “Initiatives like these build partnerships across regions and thereby promote peace and development.”
Ms Ganapragasam highlighted some of the major activities of AIBD, like the Asia Media Summits, the General Conference and other regional training programmes and partnerships. “We have members from ASEAN, Pacific, Africa, West Asia and SAARC countries. We bring governments together to discuss common issues and challenges. It promotes inter-governmental cooperation,” she added. AIBD as a neutral body can play a prominent role in fostering bilateral ties.
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