The Asia Foundation is exploring the launch of a Pacific Islands COVID-19 Misinformation Project - a regional program examining how the spread of online misinformation and rumors related to COVID-19 has affected pandemic response in Pacific Islands nations. The goal of the project is to identify broad misinformation trends on COVID-19 topics and evaluate how stakeholders in the region can work together to reduce the risk of online misinformation that threatens to undermine the COVID-19 response.

The Asia Foundation plans to support the development of this research program, a survey of experts and policymakers in the region, and the compilation of a report describing its findings. This is intended to be a rapid assessment of current information ecosystems in the region, and it will be carried out over the course of approximately eight weeks in April, May, and June 2020. The overall design of the survey along with the project trajectory will be developed in consultation with regional experts and policy professionals based in the Pacific.

If you would like to participate in or support the project in any capacity, we welcome comments from all parties.