The Pandemic of Disinformation Where The Human Cost Is Yet To Be Assessed/Counted

Disinformation has now infected all forms our information ecosystem/media and the reasons are clear;

1. It is a tool that is being weaponized by unscrupulous leaders/power brokers to defend false narratives to achieve political and/or financial gains
2. There is very little in the way of clear/consistent regulations/legal ramifications to control the spread of this disease
3. We are the pawns that are unwittingly being used to allow this to disease to spread because we are divided like never before; but even division in a Democracy must have its limits, right?

As we all recognize by now this is a huge topic and one that needs a lot of hard work/expertise to come up with an adaptable solution to deal with it. I can only suggest that there needs to be a collaborative effort internationally to set firm guidelines/standards to fight this pandemic; solutions that are developed/administered in silos do not work – similar to vaccines for pandemics. It should be made clear that this effort is less to do with politics and more to do with ensuring our global info ecosystem is immune from all forms of political and/or commercial hacking if we are to make it a viable tool for building the future for generations to come; it cannot therefore be compromised in any way and any effort to have it so should be considered as serious as an armed conflict and treated as such.

So here is genuine plea for leaders around the world to collaborate on s serious initiative to fight disinformation at every level and in every corner of the globe because the fact of the matter is that if our info system is compromised in the connected world of today we’re likely to be driven into an era of instability & conflict rather than one that promotes knowledge and sustainable development. We’re at a stage where only firm action will do not just empty rhetoric or isolated reactionary measures. Yes we’re in the midst of fighting the deadly COVID-19 pandemic while dealing with other political nightmares like trump & BREXIT but that’s precisely the point and right moment to begin fixing the informational chaos surrounding us all once and for all. No trump, a BREXIT Deal/NO DEAL or a COVID-19 Vaccine only translate to new forms of disinformation!