November 27th Proclaimed Worldwide Disinformation Awareness Day

Dietmar Pichler, Media Literacy-Expert and the co-founder of the Center for Digital Media Literacy, cooperates with Anna Patterman (Unlimited Democracy) to raise awareness of the damaging effects of #disinformation

“Today, disinformation is a global threat to both democracy and Public Health,” says the disinformation advocate and initiator of  #DisinfoDay, Dietmar Pichler (Twitter @dietmarpichler1).

Dietmar; the founder of the Center for Digital Media Literacy (zentrumsocialmedia.com), and also the political advisor at Unlimited Democracy (unlimiteddemocracy.com); sees Media Literacy as the only “vaccine” against disinformation: “I am very happy that we are proclaiming the first Worldwide Disinformation Awareness Day on November 27th under the umbrella of Unlimited Democracy in order to raise awareness of this extremely important issue."

What is Disinformation?

Disinformation is false information, created with the intent to harm a certain group, nation, person or organization, whilst Misinformation is unintentionally spread false information, sometimes initiated by a misunderstanding.

Unlimited Democracy founder Anna Pattermann (Twitter @PattermannAnna):

“Where disinformation dominates, democracy comes under pressure. We have to do something about it and this day is another big step in the defense of democracy, which is a special concern of mine as a Ukrainian."

Why do we need Disinformation Day #Disinfoday?

Disinformation is not a brand-new term but due to digitization and, especially various social media platforms, it has become a core problem for democracies. It has never been so easy to create confusion, spread propaganda or question scientific studies in an absurd way. Especially in times of the pandemic, when politics and public health are so closely interwoven, when we experience social discrepancies - people of any race, gender, or political beliefs have to become more aware of this issue and consequences of disinformation.  “Today users are no longer just consumers but also producers and distributors of news”, says Dietmar Pichler from the Center for Digital Media Competence and points out the responsibility of all of us.

Published on 24.11.2021