Disinformation in covering migration

Countries across the world are dealing with an unprecedented influx of immigrants and refugees, with a record 258 million people moving to new countries in 2017. In most of these countries, citizens are inundated with mis- and disinformation about migration, sometimes through ignorance and sometimes through coordinated campaigns to vilify migrants. Americans are told that the Central American “caravan” of asylum-seekers is filled with terrorists and criminals. Europeans are told that Muslim refugees from Africa, the Middle East and Asia seek to impose Sharia law in their new homes. In countries from Costa Rica to Bangladesh, social media has been used to stir fear against immigrants fleeing persecution in their own countries. At a time when disinformation is one of the greatest challenges facing journalists, how can we ensure that audiences are not being misled about migration, an issue that is only expected to grow more serious across the globe as climate change worsens?

Organised in association with the International Center for Journalists.