Convened by DataLEADS, the summit is hosted by the Google News Initiative as a part of the APAC Trusted Media Summit 2020.

A two-day event that will bring together journalists, medical experts, technologists and fact-checkers to discuss the proliferation and spread of medical misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic, and solutions to effectively identify and curb it

November 18, 2020, New Delhi, India (GPN)– DataLEADS is organizing the third edition of its summit on ‘Misinformation in Medicine’. The summit is hosted by the Google News Initiative as a part of the APAC Trusted Media Summit 2020, and will be held online on 20 November and 21 November 2020.

The two-day virtual summit aims to bring together journalists, fact-checkers, media educators, doctors, technologists and policymakers to outspread a dialogue on the proliferation of medical misinformation; particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, and solutions to effectively identify and combat it.

The summit will cover a range of topics including the global response to the pandemic, initiatives taken by social media platforms and fact-checkers to fight medical misinformation, and how countries from across the globe dealt with challenges related to data transparency and data accuracy.

This event is supported by Media Programme Asia of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Australia India Institute, the Global Investigative Journalism Network and Judith Neilson Institute.

Mark Ryan, Executive Director, Judith Neilson Institute, Australia said, “DataLEADS is making an important contribution in fact-checking training, data analysis and media research in Asia and now, in the midst of a global pandemic, the need for verified, evidence-based reporting is more urgent than ever. This is why the Judith Neilson Institute supports DataLEADS’ efforts to help connect media educators and journalists, and fight misinformation”.

The summit is designed to strengthen the dialogue on fighting misinformation in health and consolidate collaborative networks of fact-checkers, medical professionals and journalists. Participants will be provided an opportunity to engage with a broad network of stakeholders that will facilitate knowledge-sharing and new collaborations in fact-checking. 

Sessions will be led by prominent leaders in journalism, technology and medicine, including Dr Arash Rashidian, Director of Science, Information and Dissemination,  World Health Organization/EMRO, Dr Rosamund Lewis, Health Sciences Lead, Infodemic Management, WHO,Dr. K Srinath Reddy President, PHFI India, Dr. Faisal Sultan Special Assistant to Pakistan Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health, Simon Bland, CEO GLIDE, Abu Dhabi GLIDE, Irene Jay Liu, APAC Lead, Google News Lab, Aya Lowe,  Strategic Partner Development–News APAC, Facebook, Arjun Narayan Bettadapur Manjunath, Trust and Safety APAC, TikTok, Martina Kaiser, Policy Advisor Global Health at Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Dr. Altaf Lal, Public Health Specialist, Ellen McCutchan, Editor, CoronaCheck, Dr Ahmad Firdaus, Co-founder, Medical Mythbusters Malaysia, Motunrayo Joel, Deputy-editor, Africa Check, Nigeria, Subhra Priyadarshini, Chief Editor, Nature India, Marie Helly Head of BBC’s Beyond Fake News, Ying Chan, Founding Director, Journalism and Media Studies Centre, Hong Kong University and Maulik Baxi, Epidemiologist, Public Health Expert and Physician, Alberta Health Services, Canada.

Speaking about the summit, Syed Nazakat, Founder & CEO of DataLEADS said, “This will be our third summit on medical misinformation. Our aim is to bring different stakeholders including health leaders, policy makers, technologists, media practitioners and fact-checkers together to identify solutions to tackle misinformation in health and medicine. Misinformation related to coronavirus has cost human lives and we need to act now. We are thankful to our partners for showing immense faith in us and being part of a movement to build a new discourse in health and fact-checking.”

The Global Investigative Journalism Network, USA will also release a guide on “Investigating Health and Medicine” at the summit, which will equip journalists with the tools and techniques to engage in investigative health reporting.

Participation is free. Those interested can register on our website:http://dataleads.co.in/summit

Follow us on Twitter @data_LEADS, and join the conversation using #MMS20.

For more information kindly write to us on [email protected] ENDS