Misinformation is a complex social issue that predates the advent of the Internet and

social media. However, with the rising prevalence of sharing information online,
misinformation poses a new set of challenges for all involved.

Amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the abundance of pandemic-related information

online can make determining the most accurate and credible information sources even
more challenging.

While there are many approaches to addressing the issue of misinformation, including
collaborating with industry, news organisations, and civil society to put in place practical
initiatives to deal with misinformation online, many governments have instead turned to
legislation as a solution.

Several Southeast Asia nations have recently passed laws against fake news. These
laws often grant broad power to the government and lack transparency in the process
of how decisions are made by governments when implementing the law.

Experts around the world have argued that blunt legislation is not the most effective
solution to this complex issue, given the scale of the Internet and the difficulty and
subjectivity of discerning whether information is "true" or "false". Instead, a long-term
multi-stakeholder approach is needed.

This includes a commitment to digital, media and information literacy, including critical
thinking skills, which is vital to dealing with the issue of online misinformation in a
sustainable manner.

Digital education must be built into the school curriculum from the earliest years and
become as commonplace in the classroom as maths or science. Stakeholders should
also work together to develop targeted programs for more vulnerable groups such as
the elderly and communities that are coming online for the first time.

Similarly, supporting the work of independent journalists and fact-checkers ensures that
citizens have access to important context and counter narratives to enable them to
make informed decisions about what to read and trust online. Funding and training for
journalists should be part of a whole-of-society response.

Over the years, members of the Asia Internet Coalition, as well as other Internet
companies, have developed initiatives to combat misinformation, often in partnerships
with others across the information ecosystem, such as civil society and journalists.
These collaborations include establishing and maintaining fact-checking programmes,
conducting research into the issue, and investing in the development and roll out of
digital literacy training to millions of people in the region.

There are processes and product features in place to prevent the spread of
misinformation on online platforms, as well as wide-ranging policies that cover some of
the most harmful content types. These policies are continuously updated to keep pace
with changing behaviours on the Internet.

Internet companies have also invested in tools for users, organisations, and
governments to 'flag' online content they believe is inappropriate, and they use a
combination of reports from users, human oversight and artificial intelligence to identify
and remove this content. Some platforms have information notices that give users more
context and a wider variety of authoritative sources to enable them to apply critical
thinking to the information they see online.

Governments should look towards initiatives and mechanisms including self-regulation

that take into consideration the complexities of the issue and provide the flexibility
needed to deal with a constantly-evolving challenge like misinformation.

The Australian Code of Practice on Disinformation and Misinformation, released in

February this year, was the result of a public consultation process led by the country's
digital industry, with active input from the Australian government. The signatories to the
voluntary and self-regulatory Code commit to safeguards to protect Australians against
online misinformation and disinformation.

The Code is outcome-based, which means that signatories are able to implement
measures appropriate to their respective platforms. In May, the signatories published
their inaugural transparency reports under the Code, where they outlined how they
protect Australians from misinformation online, as well as statistical information of
actions taken so far in combating misinformation on their various platforms.

In other parts of Asia, we are seeing successful multi-stakeholder approaches with

government, digital platforms, and non-profit groups working together to fight
disinformation by raising awareness about misinformation, promoting digital literacy,
and establishing fact-checking programmes.

Blunt legislation is unlikely to effectively address a highly complex and nuanced

problem in the long term. Instead, 'fake news' legislations are likely to harm freedom of
expression and speech, and dampen public debate and exchange of ideas, information,
and knowledge – a fundamental feature of successful digital economies.
To ensure that the Internet remains a safe place for innovation, knowledge, and
business to thrive, industry, government and policy makers, media and publishers,
academia, and users themselves must be part of the solution.

Promising, alternative solutions have emerged. Pioneered by collaboratives bringing

together stakeholders across the information ecosystem, these solutions, which range
from jointly-developed technology tools that reduce the prevalence and impact of
misinformation, efforts to promote media and digital literacy, to the establishment of
fact check programmes and voluntary codes, must underpin the way forward in this
battle against misinformation.

* The writer is managing director, Asia Internet Coalition