Qatar and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) launched the Arabic version of the organisation’s research report of the Broadband Commission on the “Freedom of Expression and Addressing Disinformation on the Internet.”
This is the first language translation aside from English, and was supported and funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA).
The launch coincides with the visit of Unesco Director-General, H E Audrey Azoulay to the State of Qatar.
H E Dr. Hessa Al Jaber, in partnership with H E Audrey Azoulay, chaired the broadband working group on disinformation and hate speech of Unesco, which was tasked with preparing the report and following up on its implementation.
In a speech during the virtual session launch, MoFA Acting Director of the Information Office, Ibrahim bin Sultan Al Hashemi said that the State of Qatar believes in the right of Arab peoples to access facts and accurate information in their correct contexts without distortion or mislead, referring to Qatar’s well-known efforts in this regard since the 1990s.
He explained that Qatar’s support for translating this report into Arabic comes in the context of its support for this Arab right, expressing Qatar’s hope that the report will constitute an entry point for a broader understanding and discussion for academics, journalists, and the public about misleading information and ways to eliminate it.
Al Hashemi stressed that Qatar believes in the value of freedom of expression, as it is the solid foundation upon which open dialogue, critical thinking, and the press are built, adding that without it, nations cannot look at their conditions with the clarity and transparency required for self-review and progress forward, and peoples have realized the importance of this value throughout the ages and fought to make it a right of their rights.
He also pointed out that believing in freedom of expression and preserving it does not mean taking it as a postulate without thinking about what it means, stressing that it is offensive to this value to make it a cover for contempt for the beliefs and sanctities of others and to spread hate speech, incitement, and exclusion, in addition, it does not mean in any way the dissemination of false and misleading information.
The states, governments, and organizations need to protect and promote freedom of expression as a concept, value, and practice in civilized societies by clearing the offenses to this value, he added. Al Hashemi hailed that the role played by Unesco in this context and renew Qatar’s support for it. He pointed out that the non-vaccinated groups are considered a fertile environment for the spread of the COVID-19 mutant, as well as the reluctance of many to obtain the vaccine due to the misleading information they read about it on the Internet.
He likewise stressed out that the report indicates that there are more than 1,300 pages on “Facebook” followed by more than 100 million people to spread misinformation about the vaccine, considering that this misinformation limits the individual’s ability to make sound decisions for his and the social benefit and it also undermines global efforts to eradicate the COVID-19 virus and increases the chances of it mutating, which assures that ignorance is more deadly to nations than COVID-19 and its variants.
Moreover, Al Hashemi congratulated Unesco for launching the Arabic version of this important report, which comes at a time when the world is still suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic and its repercussions on all vital sectors.
