Moscow Plans to Raise Issue of Defining 'Fake News' in UN, OSCE

Russia intends to raise the issue of the definition of "fake news" within the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Maxim Buyakevich, the head of international information problems division of the department of information of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said Tuesday.

VIENNA (Sputnik) — According to Buyakevich, the Russian side had already begun discussing the phenomenon of fake news with international partners.

"At the end of April – in early May within the framework of the meeting of the UN Committee on Information and of the drafting of the respective resolution of the General Assembly, the Russian side formulated the issue [of fake news needing definition] in a speech of the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova, which took place during the Committee meeting. Subsequently, we proposed to our partners to incorporate a reference of this phenomenon [of fake news] in the text of the resolution. We will continue this work both at the platforms of the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe," Buyakevich said after the OSCE conference on freedom of media.

On Monday, Buyakevich said that it was necessary to first define the term "fake news," as well as its methodology and tools, before a common struggle against such a phenomenon can be organized.

The issue of so-called fake news has recently become relevant, especially over the past year. The phenomenon came about when number of institutions and politicians, most notably US President Donald Trump, began accusing different media outlets of spreading misinformation and attempting to influence public opinion.