DAMIAN CARDONA ONSÉS AND LUIS CABRERA [20 MINUTE READ]

Introduction

False and misleading information has been named the world’s second-greatest challenge in the World Economic Forum’s 2026 Global Risks Report. The organisation, known for its annual Davos, Switzerland gathering of prominent political and business leaders, puts only trade wars and other economic conflict ahead of mis- and disinformation among global risks over the next two years in its latest experts survey.[1] Similarly, a UN ranking by experts from 136 countries named disinformation one of the greatest global threats.[2]

Those messages resonate strongly in regions such as the Pacific. There, small island states not only face some of the world’s gravest threats from rising sea levels and related climate change impacts,[3] but they also face increasingly pervasive misinformation about such threats. The problem has grown with rapid increases in online connectivity. A majority of Pacific island states now report more than 50 mobile phone subscriptions per 100 population,[4] connecting their communities to global social networks with billions of members and enabling the virtually instantaneous distribution of both factual and false information.[4]

We examine how false and misleading information has challenged effective Pacific region responses to climate change, as well as other critical issues around public health crises, elections and social stability. We draw on regional and United Nations initiatives and proposals to outline several policy responses that could be adopted, adapted or expanded throughout the region to address the mounting risks.

Figure 1: United Nations stakeholder assessment of global risks

Background: Misinformation and disinformation

The ironically named ‘coconut wireless,’ referring to informal communication networks, has long served as a means of spreading community news, information and gossip around the Pacific region.[6] Now, as information is increasingly spread online across Pacific Islands states, it comes faster, in greater volumes, and with greater capacity for dubious messages to be spread by virtually anyone.

Misinformation is typically understood as false or misleading information that is spread without a specific intent to deceive. Disinformation is described as “knowingly false information designed to deliberately mislead and influence public opinion or obscure the truth for malicious or deceptive purposes.”[7]

Both were spotlighted as increasingly crucial challenges across the Pacific Region at a joint United Nations / Griffith University conference, Disinfo Pacific, which marked a significant milestone in identifying common issues for Pacific Island states and exploring responses.[8] As UN Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications Melissa Fleming told attendees, the Pacific is “a region which has long felt the impacts of misinformation, disinformation and hate speech. These are threats which undermine trust in elections and democratic processes, which derail desperately needed climate action, including by small island states, even as they are the forefront of climate solutions, and pit communities against each other, fueling unrest and violence.”[9]

We draw in part on the frameworks and expertise of conference participants, including Pacific Islands government representatives, UN staff, academics and others at the front lines of addressing mis- and disinformation across the region. We focus on current and emerging threats in the three issue areas, highlighting some very recent policy developments and conclude with a discussion of both general principles and specific policies that could be adopted.

Climate change and disinformation in the Pacific

Pacific Island states increasingly face a climate change-induced ‘polycrisis’ of rising sea levels, more destructive storms, and ocean acidification that damages critical fisheries and contributes to food insecurity.[10] “Climate change is the single greatest threat facing the Pacific, and we are at the forefront of disaster risk exposure globally,” says the Pacific Islands Forum, an organisation coordinating 15 island states across the ‘Blue Pacific Continent’.[11]

Tuvalu, a nation of 10,600 people located on a series of low-lying coral atolls and reef islands about 4,000 kilometres northeast of Australia, is predicted to be the first country in the world that will be completely lost to rising sea levels, as early as 2100.[12] The much larger Solomon Islands, with a population of 840,000, has seen several communities forced to relocate. More than half of the built infrastructure on Pacific Islands is considered similarly at risk, and climate change-related threats to food security are widespread, according to Mozaharul Alam, UN Environment Program Coordinator for Climate Action in Asia and the Pacific.[13]

Thus, Pacific region public servants and civil society actors have expressed frustration at the misinformation and outright disinformation they face on climate change and sea-level rise. One, a longtime public servant in the region with expertise on climate issues, noted at the Disinfo Pacific conference that knowledge among ordinary citizens on the effects of climate change remains relatively low. Public statements on the issue are often misleadingly general, and climate deniers have a prominent voice online. She observed a sense of hopelessness among many people that any concrete action could be taken to address the harms. Those in the public sector, she said, should have the best available information and be prepared to offer counter-arguments in real time.

The Hon Tanya Plibersek, former Australian Environment Minister and current Minister for Social Services, said in a conference keynote: “Sadly, I see so much mis- and disinformation about environmental issues. … [it] can be reported in the media, sometimes without being challenged at all, or tested by a journalist. Sometimes that gets made into a headline. It gets people clicking, and what may seem like a small or subtle contribution to the debate becomes incredibly important, because once the information enters that news ecosystem, that trusted news source, it becomes really hard to dislodge.”[14]

While the declaration was endorsed by 14 countries, none were Pacific Island states. At the same time, however, some 18 per cent of the nearly 450 proposals received by the related Global Fund for Information Integrity on Climate Change originated in the Pacific and Asia. The Fund was launched with USD 1 million in seed money from Brazil and was seeking another $37 million in a funding campaign to cover costs for its first round of successful applications.[17] It represented a tangible and potentially promising means of combating disinformation on climate change in the region, as discussed further below.

Public health

False and misleading information has had deadly consequences in public health in the Pacific Islands region in recent years. In 2019, more than 80 people, most of them children and babies, died in Samoa in a measles outbreak partly fuelled by anti-vaccine disinformation. Vaccination rates had plummeted after a clinical mistake killed two infants in 2018 and false rumours spread that the vaccines themselves were to blame. The rumours were intensified by medically dubious information spread by anti-vaccination activists, including current US Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., on a now-notorious visit to Samoa in 2019. Then-Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataʻafa criticised Kennedy in early 2025, saying, “All the different actors, especially anti-vax people, got on board and suggested that the vaccination was the cause, which is complete rubbish.”[18]

The World Health Organization has increasingly warned of the dangers of ‘infodemics,’ involving the rapid spread of “false or misleading information in digital and physical environments during a disease outbreak. It causes confusion and risk-taking behaviours that can harm health. It also leads to mistrust in health authorities and undermines the public health response.”[19]

Dr Rachel Devi, Head of Family Health at Fiji’s Ministry of Health and Medical Services, noted that the Pacific region had faced an intense infodemic related to COVID-19. She said officials coordinated closely with the WHO and focused on providing the media with clear, accurate messages for dissemination, while also practising social listening. The latter involved giving close attention to views expressed on social media, to emergency hotlines and other sources, especially on why fewer people than expected were seeking treatment for COVID-19 or related illnesses.[20] Devi and colleagues also turned to trusted voices in Fijian communities, including religious leaders and community elders, to help counter bad information about the pandemic response.

Folau Hola Mafi, Health Promoting Churches Coordinator for Tonga’s Ministry of Health, discussed the country’s Multi-Hazard Risk Communication and Community Engagement Strategy. The strategy was developed with the World Health Organization. It focuses on putting into practice lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic on countering false or misleading information. She noted training that Health Ministry staff undertook on identifying, monitoring and responding effectively to misleading information about health issues and emergencies. Health officials and staff in Fiji and elsewhere have undertaken similar training.

Finally, the WHO and partner countries across the Western Pacific have joined in capacity-building efforts such as the December 2025 ‘Exercise Crystal’ pandemic response simulation involving 31 countries. Such simulations, the WHO observes, offer “a much-needed opportunity to evaluate, refine and iron out coordination challenges and practise teamwork before a real crisis hits.”[21] Each such initiative, among others modelled in the region, could provide a significant way forward for both responding to and anticipating infodemics.[22]

Election integrity and social relations

Disinformation has also had significant consequences in spheres of democratic governance and social relations, for example, in the case of widely disseminated kidnapping rumours in Fiji and Solomon Islands.[23] Numerous commentators, including several speakers at the Disinfo Pacific conference, have highlighted how quickly such rumours can spread online, contributing to tensions between social and community groups. Others noted the corrosive effects of rumours around election integrity, highlighting the potential importance of ‘prebunking’ false and misleading information. Prebunking involves pre-emptively exposing disinformation, for example, joining or supporting fact-checking initiatives by media outlets, while also educating online users about mis- and disinformation.[24]

In Fiji, the population is around 930,000, and officials have launched an election and misinformation initiative that could indicate a way forward for the Pacific region. The three-year agreement between the Fijian Elections Office and Online Safety Commission, signed in December 2025, will see both bodies working together on monitoring for online content that may be harmful to election integrity, responding quickly to it, and sharing expertise. Fiji Elections Supervisor Ana Mataiciwa highlighted the urgency of the issues, saying the initiative “is about building a Fiji where citizens can trust what they read and hear, where people can take part in democracy without fear of being misled, and where our online spaces reflect the respect and honesty that define us as a nation.”[25]

Besides establishing a framework for digital platform monitoring and coordinated responses, the initiative will work to promote safe behaviour by online users in relation to elections, and it will develop plans to address any major coordinated disinformation attacks on election processes.

Conclusions and recommendations

Pacific Islands nations face numerous challenges in addressing the harmful effects of climate change, pandemics and other health issues, and maintaining social harmony and election integrity. Each such challenge stands to be magnified exponentially by misinformation and disinformation, especially as online connectivity races forward in the region and bad information can instantly be spread by almost anyone.

We offer here some broad principles that could guide policy responses, and some specific policies that could be adopted, adapted and developed in various Pacific Islands states. We note that most or possibly all of the recommendations are applicable in the greater Asia-Pacific Region, where states across Asia have also faced significant challenges from false and misleading information.[26]

Recommended principles

First, in terms of general principles, states around the world, and those in our region in particular, are encouraged to promote and safeguard free and independent media rather than imposing restrictive measures, while enhancing transparency and ensuring broad access to information. Each can help to strengthen public trust in institutions, governance, and decision-making processes. 

In terms of human rights to freedom of expression and related values, any restrictions must remain exceptional and be fully consistent with international human rights law. Where restrictions are applied, they must be provided for by law, pursue a legitimate aim such as the protection of the rights of others or national security issues, and satisfy the principles of necessity and proportionality. Under no circumstances should such measures be implemented in a manner that, in practice, unduly restricts or suppresses freedom of expression.

At the same time, countries and their governments have a clear obligation to prohibit and hold accountable advocacy of national, racial, or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility, or violence, in accordance with international legal standards. In this context, multistakeholder initiatives such as the Christchurch Call in New Zealand, provide an important complementary framework for addressing the dissemination of terrorist and violent extremist content online, while reaffirming a strong commitment to human rights, transparency, and the protection of freedom of expression in the digital sphere.[27]

The United Nations Countering Disinformation report offers an important framework of principles for UN Member States and technological companies.[28] These principles helped frame key dialogues at Disinfo Pacific and can serve as a broad road map for future action. The key recommendations for Member States can be summarised as follows:

Firstly, Member States and their Governments should protect, respect, and promote the right to freedom of expression, including by ensuring access to information and fostering media pluralism.

Secondly, Countries and their Governments should avoid regulatory approaches based on vague or overly broad definitions, refrain from imposing disproportionate sanctions, and ensure that legitimate expression is never criminalised.

Thirdly, they should refrain from resorting to Internet shutdowns or the blocking of websites and media outlets, as such measures are inherently restrictive and incompatible with international human rights standards.

Fourthly, public officials have a heightened responsibility to disseminate accurate, reliable, and timely information. States should therefore ensure accountability for public authorities who knowingly disseminate false or misleading information.

Lastly, Governments should actively involve civil society in the design, implementation, and evaluation of policies and other measures aimed at countering disinformation, recognising their essential role in promoting transparency, accountability, and public trust.

The report also specifies that technology companies should avoid causing or contributing to adverse human rights impacts through their activities and take effective measures to address any such impacts where they occur. They should disclose relevant policies and practices related to countering disinformation and regularly review their business models to ensure alignment with international human rights principles.

In addition, technology companies should enhance transparency by providing access to relevant data and information, and ensure that content moderation practices are consistent, adequately resourced, and effectively implemented across all locations where they operate and in all relevant languages.

Policy recommendations

In terms of specific policy responses, we recommend the following:

1. Existing regional efforts that could be expanded/adapted

The above highlights some potentially significant responses already underway or available. These include training to counter health-related disinformation infodemics and establishing election integrity efforts like Fiji’s against false and misleading information. Other paths forward could include incorporating a more explicit emphasis on countering mis/disinformation in the Pacific Islands Forum’s 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent.[29] Such an emphasis could include the establishment of a Pacific region Disinformation Register, similar to the one now maintained by the Australian Electoral Commission. Such a register could aid in prebunking election disinformation, but also in climate change and health.[30]

Further, countries such as Australia and Singapore have implemented digital and media literacy programmes aimed at fostering more resilient and substantive online engagement. Such initiatives promote critical thinking skills, empowering individuals to identify, challenge, and counter disinformation.[31]  In addition, governments from our region can prioritise investments in tools and mechanisms that support independent fact-checking, with the active participation of journalists and civil society actors.

2. UN-backed responses that could be endorsed or adopted/adapted

States in the region also could be encouraged to sign onto UNESCO’s Declaration on Information Integrity on Climate Change. Its emphasis on countering bad information, and also on protecting journalists and researchers seeking to provide good information, is in keeping with the statement issued by former Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Henry Puna on World Press Freedom Day 2024. Puna praised “particularly our own Pacific journalists, who ensure our island communities are not silent in the face of the global environmental crisis.” He noted that “It takes integrity, ethics, balance, and facts to challenge climate denial, climate misinformation, disinformation, and the rising frequency of attacks on journalists and news outlets reporting on the environment.”[32] He encouraged support for all seeking to bring the truth to bear on possibly the greatest crisis to ever face the region. Affirming the UNESCO Declaration, we suggest, would reflect that spirit and the urgency of the challenges.

3. Leveraging COP31 to counter climate disinformation in the Pacific

Finally, the path to the COP 31 global climate change meetings in November 2026 — and the COP 31 meeting itself — offer unique opportunities to develop new tools and creative campaigns to counter climate-change disinformation. The meetings will be held in Türkiye, but Australia will formally lead negotiations and pledges to represent the voices and interests of Pacific states.[33] Both countries could lead a process to strengthen climate-change anti-disinformation efforts and science-based outreach and dissemination. The outcomes of the discussions on climate disinformation during the Disinfo Pacific Conference could serve as a foundation for further development, particularly in light of Australia’s aims to ensure that Pacific perspectives are incorporated into COP 31 dialogues.

Overall, we see strong reasons for hope that challenges from mis- and disinformation can be effectively addressed. Across the Pacific, communities have the agency and ability to act not as passive consumers of information but active guardians of truth, trust and resilience. As the road to COP31 unfolds, Australia, working with Pacific partners, has a timely opportunity to place information integrity at the heart of climate action, democratic resilience and public trust.

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About the authors    

Damián Cardona Onsés

Damián Cardona Onsés is the Director of the United Nations Information Centre in Canberra and was lead organiser of the Disinfo Pacific Conference at Griffith University in Brisbane in 2024. He has over 26 years of experience in strategic communications, crisis communications, outreach, and campaigns across the United Nations system, including serving as Acting Director of UNIC Rio de Janeiro for the November 2025 COP 30 UN Climate Change Conference in Brazil. Before his appointment to Canberra, he was Director of United Nations Information Centres in Dakar, covering francophone Africa; and in Bogotá, covering Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela. While in Dakar and during the 2020 pandemic, he started his work on Disinformation, focused then on Public Health and vaccination in West Africa.  His career also includes peacekeeping and political missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mali, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and he served as spokesperson and head of external relations for the UN Mission in Haiti from 2004 to 2007. Before joining the UN, he worked with the International Federation of the Red Cross and UNESCO-affiliated initiatives.

Luis Cabrera

Luis Cabrera is Professor of Political Science at Griffith University and heads the Governance and International Relations Hub at Griffith Asia Institute. He was a co-organiser of the November 2024 Disinfo Pacific conference at Griffith South Bank campus in Brisbane. His research explores issues in democracy, human rights, and global and regional citizenship. He is the author or editor/co-editor of seven books, including The Humble Cosmopolitan: Rights, Diversity and Trans-State Democracy (Oxford University Press, 2020), and he has published more than 40 journal articles and book chapters. At Griffith, he teaches courses in International Relations and Political Science career pathways and supervises PhD candidates in normative political theory and selected areas of global and regional governance. 

Notes and references

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[1]        World Economic Forum. “Global Risks Report 2026”: https://www.weforum.org/publications/global-risks-report-2026/

[2] United Nations. “Global Risk Report 2024”: https://www.preventionweb.net/publication/documents-and-publications/un-global-risk-report

[3]        Parliament of Australia. “Climate Security in the Pacific Region,” July 15, 2025:  https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_departments/Parliamentary_Library/Research/Policy_Briefs/2025-26/ClimatesecurityinthePacificregion

[4]        Simon Ellis. “Assessing Internet Development in the South Pacific,” United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 2025, p.61: https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/assessing-internet-development-south-pacific

[4]        UNESCO. “Combatting Climate Disinformation in the Pacific: The Role of Media and Information Literacy”: https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/combatting-climate-disinformation-pacific-role-media-and-information-literacy

[5]        United Nations. United Nations Global Risk Report 2024. United Nations, 2024. UNHQ-GlobalRiskReport-WEB-FIN.pdf

[6]        Varea, Rufino, Jason Titifanue, Renata Varea, and Romitesh Kant. “The Political Affordances of the ‘Coconut Wireless’: Rotumans on Social Media in the 2018 Fiji elections.” Pacific Journalism Review 26, no. 2 (2020): 221-241.

[7]        Australian Electoral Commission, Electoral Integrity Assurance Taskforce. “Disinformation and Misinformation”: https://www.aec.gov.au/About_AEC/files/eiat/eiat-disinformation-factsheet.pdf

[8]        Disinfo Pacific: https://Disinfo Pacific.org/    Nov. 11-12, 2024.

[9]        Melissa Fleming, Opening Keynote, Disinfo Pacific Conference, Nov. 11, 2024: https://DisinfoPacific.org/videos/

[10]       Parliament of Australia. “Climate Security in the Pacific Region,” July 15, 2025:  https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_departments/Parliamentary_Library/Research/Policy_Briefs/2025-26/ClimatesecurityinthePacificregion

[11]       Pacific Islands Forum. “Climate Change and Disasters”: https://forumsec.org/climate-change-and-disasters  Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea are also full PIF members.

[12]       Lara Robertson. “Tuvalu: The Last Generation.” UNICEF Australia, Sept. 20, 2024: https://www.unicef.org.au/stories/tuvalu-climate-change-photo-essay?srsltid=AfmBOoqc_81zR53BA1CYvWojGcbV9kZbeuPA44PhjUAkDkX3w6c3IVN0

[13]       Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme. “Lived reality of climate-induced Loss and Damage Drives Solomon Islands National Response.” October 24, 2025: https://www.sprep.org/news/lived-reality-of-climate-induced-loss-and-damage-drives-solomon-islands-national-response

[14]      Tanya Plibersek, Keynote Address, Disinfo Pacific Conference, Nov. 12,2024: https://disinfopacific.org/videos/

[15]       UNESCO, Declaration on Information Integrity on Climate Change, Nov. 12, 2025: https://www.unesco.org/en/information-integrity-climate-change/cop30declaration?hub=780

[16]      United Nations Climate Change. “Countries Seal Landmark Declaration at COP30—Marking First Time Information Integrity is Prioritized at UN Climate Conference.” November 12, 2025: https://unfccc.int/news/countries-seal-landmark-declaration-at-cop30-marking-first-time-information-integrity-is-prioritized

[17]     UNESCO. “Call for Partnerships 2025.” September 13, 2025: https://www.unesco.org/en/information-integrity-climate-change/call-partnerships-2025?hub=780

[18]     Lagipoiva Cherelle Jackson. “Samoa’s Prime Minister Criticises RFK Jr’s Vaccine Views After Deadly Measles Outbreak.” The Guardian, January 31, 2025: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/31/samoas-prime-minister-criticises-rfk-jrs-vaccine-views-after-deadly-measles-outbreak

[19]      World Health Organization. “Infodemic”: https://www.who.int/health-topics/infodemic#tab=tab_1

[20]       World Health Organization. “Fiji: Listening Leads to More Impactful Communication and a Stronger COVID-19 Response.” July 19, 2022: https://www.who.int/westernpacific/newsroom/feature-stories/item/fiji–listening-leads-to-more-impactful-communication-and-a-stronger-covid-19-response

[21]      World Health Organization. “Getting Ready for the Next Pandemic: Western Pacific Countries and Areas Carry Out a Key Regional Simulation Exercise,” Dec. 4, 2025: https://www.who.int/westernpacific/news/item/04-12-2025-getting-ready-for-the-next-pandemic

[22]     World Health Organization. “Emergency Communication in Focus: The First Multi-Hazard and Multi-Stakeholder Strategy Launched by Tonga.” September 13, 2024: https://www.who.int/westernpacific/newsroom/feature-stories/item/emergency-communication-in-focus–the-first-multi-hazard-and-multi-stakeholder-strategy-launched-by-tonga

[23]     Anouk Ride. “Fake Kidnaps and Real Dangers of Disinformation in Pacific Islands,” The Interpreter, November 27, 2024: https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/fake-kidnaps-real-dangers-disinformation-pacific-islands

[24]     United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. “Prebunking: UNHCR Information Integrity Toolkit,” March 10, 2025: https://www.unhcr.org/handbooks/informationintegrity/practical-tools/prebunking 

[25]     Fijian Elections Office. “Fijian Elections Office and Online Safety Commission Sign MoU to Protect Electoral Integrity,” December 4, 2025: https://www.feo.org.fj/fijian-elections-office-and-online-safety-commission-sign-mou-to-protect-electoral-integrity/

[26]     Bama Andika Putra. “Fake News and Disinformation in Southeast Asia: How Should ASEAN Respond?” Frontiers in Communication, Vol. 9, March 21, 2024:  https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/communication/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1380944/full

[27]    The Christchurch Call: https://www.christchurchcall.org/ 

[28]   United Nations. “Countering Disinformation”: https://www.un.org/en/countering-disinformation

[29]     Pacific Islands Forum. “2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent”: https://forumsec.org/2050 

[30]     Australian Electoral Commission. “Electoral Process Disinformation Register”: https://www.aec.gov.au/media/disinformation-register.htm 

[31]     Australian Curriculum. “Digital Literacy in the New Australian Curriculum”: https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/resources/stories/digital-literacy-in-the-new-australian-curriculum

[32]    Pacific Islands Forum. “SG Puna Statement on World Press Freedom Day 2024,” May 3, 2024: https://forumsec.org/publications/remarks-sg-puna-statement-world-press-freedom-day-2024

[33]   Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs. “COP to be Hosted by Türkiye with Australia Leading Negotiations,” Nov. 23, 2025: https://www.foreignminister.gov.au/minister/penny-wong/media-release/cop-be-hosted-turkiye-australia-leading-negotiations