THE International Republican Institute (IRI) and the Fiji Council of Social Services yesterday launched its first activity aimed at addressing the increasing misinformation and hate speech surrounding COVID-19 in Fiji, IRI resident national program officer Elenoa Fuli said it was important to address the issue.
“IRI received extra funding from USAID and we have seen that as time went by in the COVID-19 pandemic, people were assisted by the health ministries and other organisations but there was nothing allocated to address misinformation and hate speech dissemination,” she said.
“I have not seen any other organisation forming such works and I think in terms of COVID-19 while you physically recover, you need to also recover mentally and get the right information.”
Another recipient, Jerry Vatuwaqa of Stage Tech Fiji, said they would be using technology to educate the public about the need to verify information before distribution.
“During COVID-19, I think there was a lot of misinformation which was mostly influenced by talanoa sessions, social media, therefore, our main message is to think first, analyse the information, make sure the sources are right and then share it out,” he said.
United States chargé d’affaires Tony Greubel said the US government would continue to support the Pacific Island nations in their fight against COVID-19.
The project is funded by the US AID under which three grantees were awarded grants of $5000 to undertake their planned works in combating misinformation and hate speech.
The three awardees included Diabetes Fiji Incorporated, AWQAF Fiji and Stage Tech Fiji.
