Understanding the challenge

This toolkit has been developed in response to the grave and growing challenge to information integrity posed by risks that harm forcibly displaced communities and stateless people, UNHCR staff and/or the reputation of the organization.

There are in some cases correlation between the presence of widespread disinformation, misinformation and hate speech and resulting protection risks such as stigmatisation and dehumanisation, polarization, heightened insecurity, normalisation of violence, targeting of minority or marginalized groups, and silencing of dissenting voices (e.g. human rights activists, journalists and local media, and community leaders).

For example, a campaign of hate speech and misinformation on Facebook against the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar was linked to the commission of grave human rights violations that prompted the flight of some 750,000 Rohingya into Bangladesh.

Risks related to the information space are far from new phenomena - lies and deceptions have always circulated. However, the advent and expansion of digital platforms have played a significant part in enabling the scale of their reach. Furthermore, a recent survey – the largest ever conducted capturing sentiments on attitudes towards refugees – has shown that social media is playing a role in polarizing societies.

Addressing risks to information integrity increasingly need to be considered as part of holistic protection approaches, including situation analysis, strategy development and responses. Analysis of such risks can inform protection analysis (e.g. where sources of the risks are identifiable) and increase the impact of UNHCR’s Digital Transformation (e.g. the provision of online services and digital APP).

Beyond risks to the forcibly displaced and stateless, such risks can constrain the operating space for UNHCR through damaging the organisation’s reputation and possibly leading to communication crisis, weaken trust and support amongst communities, and threaten staff safety and security through targeting of staff members due to their role or personal identity characteristics. In recognition, the United Nations Global Principles for Information Integrity were developed to promote the integrity of the information ecosystem – “where freedom of expression is fully enjoyed and where accurate, reliable information, free from discrimination and hate, is available to all in an open, inclusive, safe and secure information environment".

Ensuring information integrity is crucial within a pluralistic information landscape that advocates for peaceful societies, human rights, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It embodies the potential of the digital age to cultivate trust, knowledge, and individual autonomy. Promoting information integrity includes the duty of states to ensure an enabling space for  individuals to exercise their right to seek, receive, and share diverse information and ideas, while safeguarding their right to hold opinions without interference. In our intricate digital information environment, this includes enabling people to navigate information spaces securely, preserving the right privacy and the right to freedom of expression.

Digital platforms play a pivotal role in reshaping social, cultural, and political interactions worldwide. They serve as conduits connecting engaged global citizens around critical issues. For UNHCR, these platforms facilitate direct communication with communities and the provision of protection information and services, and support our pursuit of protecting refugees, displaced and stateless people through advocacy and resource mobilisation. In times of crisis and adversity, they offer hope, amplify marginalized voices, and invigorate global movements.

Yet these same platforms have also exposed and contributed to a darker side of the digital ecosystem. While they connect people globally, they’ve also facilitated the rapid dissemination of falsehoods and hate, resulting in both online and offline consequences for forcibly displaced and stateless people.

The danger cannot be overstated. Social media enabled hate speech and disinformation can lead to offline acts of violence and can in some cases result in injuries or deaths.[1]The ability to disseminate large-scale disinformation to undermine scientifically established facts and stoke xenophobia and racism not only pose a risk to forcibly displaced and stateless people but threaten fundamental human rights. However, for the forcibly displaced and stateless these risks are even more acute as they are particularly exposed to the risks of racism. These dangers have further intensified in part due to of rapid technological advancements, such as generative artificial intelligence which can be used to quickly and cheaply generate realistic imagery and audio. It has become clear that business as usual is not an option.