Fighting misinformation: Pausing before you share helps save lives
Misinformation is prolonging the pandemic and costing lives. But there’s something we can do.
Everybody knows somebody who shares misleading, emotionally charged, or questionable posts. What if that person was you and you didn’t know it?
Verified is encouraging the world to pause before you post. Studies show that by pausing before you share, you allow time to think about the information – where it comes from, whether it’s true, when it was written and why you are sharing it. This means you are less likely to spread misinformation.
People worldwide are helping spread our #PledgetoPause message across social media. By flooding timelines with this simple message, you can help people stop and think, and slow the spread of harmful misinformation.
According to a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) study, seeing our Pause message on social media makes people significantly less likely to share misleading headlines.
There is reliable information online about COVID-19, but many sources are deliberately misleading, and others bend the truth just to get our attention. When misinformation spreads it becomes hard to contain – and every false share can have damaging consequences.
Post one of our share graphics on your timeline, get people’s attention, encourage them to pause before they post.
UNICEF Montenegro Q&As: Fact-checking COVID-19 information
UN entities involved in this initiative
Goals we are supporting through this initiative
