Lebanon tries to find ways to curb misinformation, disinformation in face of Israeli airstrikes

The Lebanese Ministry of Information is making efforts to find ways to curb the spread of conflict-related misinformation and disinformation as Israeli airstrikes continue, including by establishing a crisis center for the media, according to Minister of Information Ziad Makary.

Makary said the ministry is working seriously to address such misinformation, which is "dangerous" and "spreading in a very fast way everywhere."

He said it is impossible to monitor all information sources, and the ministry would work with the country's security and judiciary authorities to make a plan to cope with the spread of misinformation and disinformation.

"We cannot monitor everybody and we cannot control everybody. We are trying to do our best. As a ministry of information we have some authority we never used in the past because we have the freedom of speech in Lebanon that we are committed to protect. But now we are in a war. And this freedom of speech sometimes goes in dangerous ways. For example, last week they said that the Israeli ambassador in Cyprus was kidnapped. It was fake. It's a dangerous issue. We are seeing info such as Lebanese Red Cross is smuggling arms for Hezbollah in ambulances. So this might put in danger the Lebanese Red Cross. So there is a lot of work also on the security institutions in Lebanon with the judiciary institutions as well. So we will meet with them this week and we will try to make a plan, or I'm thinking also to create a crisis center for journalists and to fix all these problems,” he said.

The current conflict between Israel and Hezbollah intensified when Israel-Hamas conflict broke out in October last year, and has heightened further since the wave of deadly pager and walkie-talkie explosions in Lebanon this September.

The death toll in Lebanon from the ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 2,083 since last October, with 9,869 others injured, according to a statement released Monday by the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.

Lebanon tries to find ways to curb misinformation, disinformation in face of Israeli airstrikes

Chinese State Councilor Shen Yiqin attended a reception celebrating the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia at the Russian embassy in Beijing on Tuesday.

Shen, also the Chinese chairman of the China-Russia Committee on Humanities Cooperation, said that under the guidance of the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, China is willing to work with Russia to take the opportunity of celebrating the 75th anniversary of China-Russia diplomatic ties and the China-Russia Years of Culture to deepen cooperation in various fields and create more benefits for both peoples.

Russian Ambassador to China Igor Morgulov said Russia stands ready to further deepen its traditional friendship with China and push for greater development of Russia-China relations.

Chinese state councilor, Russian ambassador celebrate 75 years of diplomatic relations