U.N. report warns disinformation threatens human rights

By Joseph Bernard A. Marzan

A report by the United Nations Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) Advisory Committee has warned that disinformation poses a growing threat to the enjoyment and realization of human rights worldwide, citing its corrosive impact on democracy, public health, environmental protection and social cohesion.

In the report presented at the council’s 61st session, the committee reaffirmed that disinformation, defined as false information intentionally disseminated to cause serious social harm, has expanded rapidly with digital technologies and social media platforms.

The report emphasized that while digital platforms have democratized access to information, they have also enabled the large-scale spread of disinformation, undermining the integrity of the global information system and the ability of people to verify facts.

Citing a UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) survey, the report noted that 87% of citizens polled in 16 countries expressed concern about the influence of online disinformation on elections.

The committee stressed that states are obliged to respect, protect and promote human rights in responding to disinformation and must avoid abusing anti-disinformation laws to suppress dissent or restrict freedom of expression.

“The fight against disinformation has also been used to censor and silence journalists. It should be recalled that any action against harmful disinformation should conform to the principles of legality, necessity and proportionality and ensure the protection of a free press,” the report said.

“Measures to combat disinformation must not be used as a pretext for censorship or suppressing dissenting voices,” it added.

The report identified both state and non-state actors, including technology companies, as drivers of disinformation, citing profit-driven business models and opaque digital advertising systems that amplify inflammatory and misleading content.

It warned that artificial intelligence tools, including deepfakes and automated content generation, have intensified the speed and scale of disinformation campaigns, overwhelming traditional fact-checking and moderation systems.

At the same time, the committee said technology can also be used to counter disinformation by detecting coordinated inauthentic behavior, bot networks and manipulated media.

The report detailed how disinformation affects multiple rights simultaneously, including freedom of expression, privacy, nondiscrimination, democratic participation and the right to benefit from scientific progress.

It warned that false claims about diseases and vaccines can undermine the right to health, citing the spread of misleading information during the COVID-19 pandemic that fueled vaccine hesitancy and resistance to public health measures.

The committee also highlighted the impact of disinformation on the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, noting that environmental disinformation has been used to cast doubt on climate science and delay action on the “triple planetary crisis” of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.

According to the report, major fossil fuel corporations and other businesses have funded efforts to undermine environmental science, promote ineffective solutions and launch campaigns against scientists and environmental defenders.

The committee cited four forms of climate-related disinformation identified by the United Nations Development Programme: climate denial, climate delay, greenwashing and climate conspiracies.

The report further warned that disinformation disproportionately affects women, minorities, migrants, refugees, journalists, human rights defenders, children and older persons, often reinforcing stereotypes, inciting hostility and contributing to violence.

It noted that 73% of women journalists surveyed by UNESCO reported experiencing online violence, while 41% said they had been subjected to orchestrated disinformation campaigns.

In conflict settings, the committee said disinformation has become a key element of “information or hybrid warfare,” used to justify violence, dehumanize populations and suppress independent voices.

The report described the current global situation as an “epistemological crisis,” warning that weak protection of human rights, declining media independence and concentration of corporate control over digital platforms threaten democracy, environmental protection and socioeconomic equity.

To address the crisis, the committee recommended a two-pronged approach: strengthening access to accurate information and improving societal resilience through media and information literacy.

It called on states to avoid vague disinformation laws, ensure financial sustainability for independent media, protect journalists and whistleblowers, and include media literacy and science literacy in public education curricula.

The report urged governments to regulate technology and artificial intelligence companies in line with the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, including requiring transparency, human rights due diligence and labeling of AI-generated content.

States were also encouraged to ban fossil fuel advertisements and require transparency in corporate sustainability claims to counter environmental disinformation.

Businesses, for their part, were urged to refrain from spreading disinformation, conduct human rights impact assessments and implement stronger safeguards to prevent the amplification of harmful content.

The committee recommended that the UNHRC integrate the integrity of the information system into the universal periodic review process to assess how states address disinformation while upholding human rights.

The report concluded that the well-being of societies, the enjoyment of human rights and the survival of international law “all — together — depend on the information system,” and warned that disinformation must be addressed without undermining fundamental freedoms.