Speakers at a consultative workshop on Media and Information Literacy (MIL) were unanimous at the point that transforming the population into a society of informed citizens through MIL is the only path forward to counter disinformation, misinformation and fake news.
UNESCO in collaboration with Media Foundation 360, organized the consultation at Pakistan Club, Sukkur to get suggestions from the key stakeholders for developing Pakistan’s first MIL Framework. Deputy Mayor and President PPP Sukkur Dr Arshad Mughal, Ex-MPA and Hindu Leader, Diwan Chand Chawla, President District Bar Association Sukkur Syed Naveed Ahmed Shah, Chairman Sukkur Town Committee Farhan Shah, Head of Department of History and Archeology, AROR University Qasim Sudhar, Project Director Rozan Rabia Bhatti, Director Nari Foundation Anwer Mahar, Information Officer Sukkur Kamran Phulphoto, Ex-President Pakistan Medical Association (Sindh) and Vice Chairman Sukkar Town Committee Dr Usman Mako, Secretary Information Sukkur Press Club Kamran Sheikh, Author and Journalist Jawad Shah, Assistant Professor AROR University Fatima Dayo, Director Education Sukkur hafiz Shahabud Din, Additional Executive Manager Pakistan Railway Muhammad Jawad. President MF360 Mubasher Bukhari and several journalists, academics and social activists attended the consultation.
The three-session consultation encompassed several topics, including ‘Approaching MIL Discourse in Pakistan’, ‘Integrating MIL Policy in Building a Knowledge-based Society’, ‘Blurring of Information Line: Empowerment or Protection for Media?’ and ‘Cultural and Linguistic Diversity: A Cornerstone for Shaping MIL Policies’, to get the participants’ civic sense and proposals.
The participants pointed out that disinformation, fake news and propaganda add to societal intolerance which must be collectively countered through various interventions. They believed that the majority of Pakistan’s population should be enabled to differentiate between fake and true news for which inclusion of the anti-disinformation/fake news courses must be included in syllabi from schools to universities levels. At the same time, the government and civil society should launch awareness campaigns through traditional media, training sessions, seminars and social media to inform citizens and netizens about MIL.
