BBC launches huge new International anti-disinformation initiative

The BBC will be launching the Beyond Fake News project on 12th November with the release

of findings from original BBC research into how and why disinformation is shared. Around

the globe, disinformation has been seen to cause social and political harm, with people

having less trust in the news, or in some cases being subjected to violence or death as a

result.

The BBC’s Beyond Fake News project aims to fight back with a major focus on global

media literacy, panel debates in India and Kenya, hackathons exploring tech solutions and a

special season of programming across the BBC’s networks in Africa, India, Asia Pacific,

Europe, the USA and Central America. The research to be released publicly on 12th

November comes after users gave the BBC unprecedented access to their encrypted

messaging apps in India, Kenya, and Nigeria.

The Beyond Fake News media literacy programme has already begun delivering workshops

in India and Kenya. It draws on the BBC’s pioneering work to tackle disinformation in the UK,

where digital literacy workshops have also been delivered to schools across the country.

Jamie Angus, Director of the BBC World Service Group, says: “In 2018 I pledged that the

BBC World Service Group would move beyond just talking about the global ‘fake news’

threat, and take concrete steps to address it.

Poor standards of global media literacy, and the ease with which malicious content can spread unchecked on digital platforms mean there’s never been a greater need for trustworthy news providers to take proactive steps.

We have put our money where our mouth is and invested in real action on the ground in

India and in Africa. From funding in-depth research into sharing behaviours online, to rolling

out media literacy workshops globally, and by pledging to bring BBC Reality Check to some

of the world’s most important upcoming elections, this year we’re carving our path as a

leading global voice for spotting the problems, and setting out ambitious solutions.”

The Beyond Fake News Season

Fake or real, truth or lie, transparent or deliberately misleading - how can you tell the

difference? And what can you do about it to help build trust? These are the problems the

BBC explores in the Beyond Fake News season. This season will include in-depth story of

what happened when WhatsApp turned one Indian village into a lynch mob. The season

brings stories from across the world on TV, radio and online drawing on the expertise of the

BBC’s journalists.