Foreign Ministers of Mexico, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Türkiye, and Australia
We, the Foreign Ministers of Mexico, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Türkiye, and Australia – comprising MIKTA – express our deep concern about the risks that misinformation, disinformation and harmful narratives pose to humanitarian personnel and humanitarian operations in armed conflicts, disasters and other complex emergencies, disrupting and undermining trust in humanitarian assistance.
The rapid evolution of digital communications, social media and artificial intelligence has facilitated harmful narratives to spread at unprecedented speed and scale.
We condemn the creation, coordination and dissemination of false and harmful narratives that misrepresent humanitarian organisations and personnel, incite violence, threats or discrimination against them, or obstruct humanitarian activities. This causes real harm.
We reaffirm our support to the UN Security Council Resolution 2730 and the Declaration for the Protection of Humanitarian Personnel, and call for their effective implementation, which includes countering misinformation and combating disinformation, information manipulation and hate speech targeting humanitarian organisations, personnel and activities.
To strengthen protection of humanitarian personnel and humanitarian action from harmful information in all its forms, we are elevating this as a policy priority.
We call upon all States, all parties in armed conflict and other relevant actors to respect and protect humanitarian personnel and humanitarian operations, including in the information environment.
Humanitarian personnel save lives. Misinformation, disinformation and harmful narratives put them at risk. This must stop.
MIKTA members will continue to work with the United Nations, humanitarian organisations, civil society and other relevant actors to advance this objective.