Calls COVID-19 Disinformation A Human Rights Violation, Pope Francis: Fake News Must Be Denied!

Pope Francis. (Wikimedia Commons/Aleteia Image Department)

JAKARTA - Pope Francis said on Friday that spreading fake news and disinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines, including by the Catholic media, is a violation of human rights.

This is the second time in less than a month that the 85-year-old pope has spoken out on the matter. Three weeks ago, he condemned the "baseless" ideological misinformation about vaccines, supported a national vaccination campaign and called health care a moral obligation.

Pope Francis made this point in his address to members of catholicfactchecking.com, a consortium of Catholic media whose website aims to "clarify false news and misleading information" about vaccines against COVID-19.

"To be given correct information, to be helped to understand the situation based on scientific data and not fake news, is a human right," Pope Francis said, citing Reuters on January 28.

"Correct information must be ensured, especially for those who are less equipped, for the weakest, and for those most vulnerable," Pope Francis said.

On the occasion, Pope Francis denounced the spread of an "infodemic" which he said was a distortion of reality based on fear, fake or fictitious news, and "allegedly scientific information."

People who believe in fake news should not be placed in the 'Ghetto', but efforts should be made to try to win them over to scientific truth.

"Fake news must be denied, but everyone must always be respected because they often believe it without full awareness or responsibility," he stressed.

It was important for Pope Francis to deliver his address to a Catholic media group. Previously, several far-right Catholic outlets, blogs, and websites had been shut down by social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, for spreading COVID-19 disinformation. Many have moved to other platforms.

Some right-wing Catholic media regularly air the harshest criticisms of Pope Francis, such as Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, an Italian who has been in hiding for nearly three years since issuing leaflets against Pope Francis demanding his resignation.

To note, in a letter to followers this month, Vigano said the lab-produced virus was part of a global plot "to erase all traces of our identity as Christians". He also denied the existence of a pandemic and called it the work of the devil.