Humanitarian, peace, and media sectors join forces to tackle harmful information
In an era where misinformation can spark violence and undermine peace efforts, a unique alliance of humanitarian, media, and peacebuilding actors is rethinking how to confront the rising tide of harmful narratives.
At the WSIS+20 High-Level Event in Geneva, a powerful session brought together humanitarian, peacebuilding, and media development actors to confront the growing threat of disinformation, more broadly reframed as ‘harmful information.’ Panellists emphasised that false or misleading content, whether deliberately spread or unintentionally harmful, can have dire consequences for already vulnerable populations, fueling violence, eroding trust, and distorting social narratives.
The session moderator, Caroline Vuillemin of Fondation Hirondelle, underscored the urgency of uniting these sectors to protect those most at risk.
Hans-Peter Wyss of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation presented the ‘triple nexus’ approach, advocating for coordinated interventions across humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding efforts. He stressed the vital role of trust, institutional flexibility, and the full inclusion of independent media as strategic actors.
Philippe Stoll of the ICRC detailed an initiative that focuses on the tangible harms of information—physical, economic, psychological, and societal—rather than debating truth. That initiative, grounded in a ‘detect, assess, respond’ framework, works from local volunteer training up to global advocacy and research on emerging challenges like deepfakes.
Donatella Rostagno of Interpeace shared field experiences from the Great Lakes region, where youth-led efforts to counter misinformation have created new channels for dialogue in highly polarised societies. She highlighted the importance of inclusive platforms where communities can express their own visions of peace and hear others’.
Meanwhile, Tammam Aloudat of The New Humanitarian critiqued the often selective framing of disinformation, urging support for local journalism and transparency about political biases, including the harm caused by omission and silence.
The session concluded with calls for sustainable funding and multi-level coordination, recognising that responses must be tailored locally while engaging globally. Despite differing views, all panellists agreed on the need to shift from a narrow focus on disinformation to a broader and more nuanced understanding of information harm, grounded in cooperation, local agency, and collective responsibility.
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