The first meeting of the ASEAN Task Force on Fake News (TFFN) was held in Hanoi on October 11 within the framework of ASEAN cooperation on information. The event was also part of the 2022 Vietnam International Digital Week (VIDW2022) hosted by the Ministry of Information and Communications.
The establishment of the TFFN is an initiative developed by Vietnam to establish a specialised cooperation mechanism among ASEAN countries with the aim to deal with and reduce the harmful effects of fake news in the region.
At the first meeting, the countries discussed their mechanisms, policies and experiences in dealing with fake news. Furthermore, the nations reviewed the results that ASEAN has made to deal with fake news, thereby proposing measures to increase effectiveness.
At the meeting, Vietnam presided over the development of a framework for the operation of the TFFN so that countries contribute their ideas.
The key activities of the ASEAN Task Force on Fake News in the coming time are to develop a guiding process for handling of fake news as well as to research and develop Fact Checking activities within ASEAN.
Another key activity is the development of “best practices” for dealing with online misconduct.
The ASEAN Task Force on Fake News will provide an annual recommendation report to the Meeting of the ASEAN Senior Officials Responsible for Information and the Conference of ASEAN Ministers Responsible for Information (AMRI) while carrying out activities to strengthen the capacity of dealing with fake news for the countries.
