StarTimes, UNESCO in Joint Campaign Against Dis- and Mis-Information on COVID-19

Nairobi, 30^th July 2020. UNESCO, the UN Agency saddled with the promotion of freedom of expression and access to information aims to empower the society, with increased capacities of resilience in the face of “fake news” including dis- and mis-information that preceded the COVID 19 pandemic.

UNESCO’s launch of the campaign under Media and Information is designed to encourage young men and women to identify and leverage their creativity and innovation to combat mis- and disinformation on COVID-19.

In support of the campaign, StarTimes Media has leveraged on its online presence calling for increased attention and participation across its over 10 million followers. To further promote the best works of the campaign, access to the Top 10 winners’ videos is now available on StarTimes ON, the streaming video APP used by over 20 million users across Africa.

“To join the campaign against fake news on COVID-19 is part of the long term collaboration with UNESCO, we hope to further contribute to the local cultural development in near future. As a leading media group operated in Africa, we understand the responsibility to communicate true messages in time as we leverage on our network resources to reach the majority of the population.” said Luis Lu, the vice president of StarTimes Group.

COVID-19 pandemic didn’t just present a health challenge; it also brought potential danger in regular communication as a result of distortion of relevant information which also affects mental health.

The campaign against Dis- and Mis-Information on COVID-19″ provided a platform for the creative interpretation of the importance of authentic information regarding the pandemic.