Fake news used as weapon of war against Palestinians: IRNA chief

Media which are loyal to ethics never fan the flames of violence and hate, but the Zionist regime through fake news tries to divert the public opinion from the human tragedy in Gaza, Ali Naderi said at an international media forum focusing on confronting hate and violence in media held in the Saudi port city of Jeddah on Sunday.

During his speech to the forum, the IRNA chief censured the Zionists’ killing of thousands of people including children and women in the Gaza Strip.

Being honest and impartial and staying far from discrimination are at the top of the ethical principles for media, Naderi underlined.

“Release of fake news is one of the media’s ethical challenges.”

He referred to the false claim about the existence of the Palestinian Resistance movement’s (Hamas) tunnel under a hospital in Gaza as an example of releasing such fake news whose wrongness was revealed by the US news network CNN.

As the IRNA chief noted, examples are many for proving that fake news has systematically been spreading against realities in Gaza.

The Israeli regime’s crimes in Gaza are too great that has led the criminals to spread false news about it in order to not let the public opinion understand the depth of the human tragedy in the Strip, Naderi announced.

Senior officials of religious organizations, representatives of Islamic and international news agencies, and human rights figures have attended in the Jeddah international media forum.

IRNA calls for formation of union to stand against propagation of fake news

According to Naderi, the formation of a union and professional collaborations throughout the world are needed to stand against the propagation of fake news, because as it has been revealed, the Israeli regime deliberately targeted nearly 70 journalists, including two reporters of the Lebanese Al Mayadeen TV network, during the war on the Gaza Strip.

He noted that the Israeli war criminals tried to portray the onslaught in Gaza as a legitimate conflict, but professional journalists stood against the dissemination of fake news and propaganda campaigns.

Naderi noted that the issue of fighting the dissemination of fake news has been emphasized by the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA), which is presided by IRNA.

He expressed hope that cooperation among news agencies and other media outlets will be fruitful not only regarding technical issues but also in respect of observing moral values.

The international conference of ‘Role of Media in Inciting Hatred and Violence – Risks of Misinformation and Bias’ was held in the Saudi city of Jeddah on November 26. The objective of the conference was the identification of deficiencies in the media’s handling of international issues.