HRC47: Oral statement during ID with Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression

Item 3:Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression

Organisation:Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW)

Speaker:Claire Denman

Thank you, Madame President,

CSW welcomes the report of the Special Rapporteur and thanks the Rapporteur for her continued work.

We share the Rapporteur’s concerns about state-sponsored disinformation and its impact on human rights.

In recent years in Cuba, the Ministry of the Interior has developed and run an escalating disinformation campaign targeting key religious leaders and human rights defenders by posting false accusations on Facebook which are rapidly shared across numerous other accounts.

CSW has noted that the same accounts are repeatedly involved, many of which have known links to Cuban state security.

One blog has particularly targeted religious leader Reverend Alain Toledano Valiente. The blog has published invented claims and false accusations of domestic abuse and embezzlement against the pastor, as well as targeting members of his family.

We call on Cuba to cease its campaigns of disinformation, and instead adhere to the Rapporteur’s recommendation that States should not make, sponsor, encourage or disseminate statements that they know to be false.

The Rapporteur also rightly raises concerns regarding the spread of disinformation in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is of particular concern in India, where social media users including government officials have been responsible for making false claims that Muslims were actively trying to spread the virus in India.

Such disinformation resulted in a marked rise in violence against Muslims in the country. Christians have also been targeted with mob violence following the publication of similarly false accusations.

We call on India to take meaningful efforts to prevent the spread of disinformation online, including by ensuring that government officials are not responsible for fuelling false allegations and intolerance.

Thank you