News

PortalCheck is the first digital COVID-19 resource hub in the region and one of the first of its kind in the world. Designed and Implemented by UNESCO and Chequeado - LatamChequea the platform includes resources, recommendations, news and fact-checking experiences and more

The information shared about COVID-19 is increasingly being threatened by the "fake news" phenomenon that is rapidly spreading throughout social media networks and as a consequence could potentially cost lives.

On Thursday 11th February 2021, UNESCO and Chequeado - LatamChequea will officially launch PortalCheck, an online initiative that offers valuable resources and tools on how to combat COVID-19 mis/disinformation in Latin America and the Caribbean. The platform (regional hub) consists of compiled notes and resources for distinct audiences created by expert fact-checkers from throughout the region.

PortalCheck is designed and implemented by UNESCO Montevideo in partnership with Chequeado and LatamChequea and funded by the European Union. The platform includes a section based on the most recurrent COVID-19 disinformation in the region, and content can be viewed in different formats such as videos, texts and podcasts. It also includes tips and tools for educators, content creators and influencers, to support them not to unwittingly spread mis/disinformation.

The launch will also coincide with the first edition of "Digital Lab PortalCheck", The Lab aims to link representatives of leading digital social networking platforms, fact-checkers and fact-checking organisations, journalists with some of the most prominent social media influencers in Latin America and the Caribbean.

• You can connect with the event through this link.

Lidia Brito, director of the UNESCO Regional Office of Sciences for Latin America and the Caribbean, said that "this project is part of the global initiative '#CoronavirusFacts - Addressing disinformation about Covid-19'. We are pleased to announce that we have already recorded 2,500 people registered for the launch and 27,000 visitors to the website and this is before we have conducted the official launch".

"PortalCheck is a collaborative project by organisations who are working on disinformation, to offer useful resources in one unique space so that we can all contribute to verifying information that comes to us and prevent the spread of disinformation," said Laura Zommer, executive and journalistic director of Chequeado.

For more information, please contact Sandra Sharman, project advisor for #CoronavirusFacts: Latin America and the Caribbean s.sharman@unesco.org

URL:

https://en.unesco.org/news/latin-america-combating-covid-19-disinformation