This story was written by Naomi Miyashita and Gaëlle Sundelin. Ms. Miyashita is Team Leader of the Information Integrity Unit in the Department of Peace Operations and has served in various conflict-affected countries and at UN Headquarters. Ms. Sundelin is a Strategic Communications Officer with the Department of Peace Operations and is an expert in media and journalism.
In today’s volatile information landscape, false, misleading, and manipulated information can crowd out facts and nuance. In conflict settings, this can fuel tensions, worsen humanitarian crises, and even make the difference between life and death. Rumours can also make it more difficult and more dangerous for the UN peacekeepers working to address tensions and to protect vulnerable communities. False information about peacekeepers’ intentions can erode vital trust between a mission and the community and can put peacekeepers at risk.
This was not a hypothetical for women serving with MONUSCO, the peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At the height of an online disinformation campaign following the M23 attack on the country in January 2025, women peacekeepers were threatened with rape and other acts of sexual violence, affecting their safety and freedom of movement, and making it more difficult for them to restore security for Congolese communities.
68% of peacekeepers surveyed by the UN Department of Peace Operations in 2025 said that misinformation and disinformation had a moderate to severe effect on their efforts to implement peace and security work. 76% felt that it had a moderate to severe effect on their safety and security.
“Misinformation, disinformation and hate speech pose a risk to the lives of the people we are trying to protect, and to our ability to protect them,” stressed Major John Rice, an Operations Officer with UNFICYP, the UN peacekeeping mission in Cyprus, at a recent workshop in Uganda. He and a growing body of UN experts in misinformation, disinformation and hate speech (MDH) had gathered to discuss strategies to address this growing problem.
“Threat actors use mis- and disinformation as weapons of war to create tensions, manipulate, and destabilize communities. They influence community behaviors, which affects our capacity to protect populations,” said Boris-Ephrem, Chief of the Community Liaison office in UNISFA, the UN peacekeeping mission in Abyei.
Peacekeepers are adapting in the face of these challenges, tracking misinformation, disinformation and hate speech to help identify where violence might break out and developing strategies to address the underlying tensions between communities they often signal. These strategies must be carefully tailored. “In Abyei, MDH does not come through headlines and hashtags – it spreads through markets, churches, community leaders, and other sources,” said Antonette Midday, Spokesperson for UNISFA. She emphasizes the importance of engaging directly with communities in ways that resonate - through artistic events, community dialogues, and local conferences - to build trust and share accurate information before harmful rumors take hold.
At the core of peacekeeping effectiveness is this trust between peacekeepers and the communities they serve, built through open, honest, and consistent communication. Dialogue helps people understand why the UN is in their country, and ensures that community voices—concerns, criticisms, and insights—are heard and acted upon. Dialogue is also important for early warning of impending violence, helping missions predict attacks so they can prevent them before they start. By picking up on emerging MDH narratives - whether online or offline - missions can work to address false or misleading narratives with reliable and accurate information on social and traditional media and through community outreach activities.
However, the volume and speed at which MDH spreads is hard for missions to keep up with, especially amid recent platform moderation cuts. Historically, large social media platforms had stricter moderation policies in place to curb hate speech, misinformation, and abusive language. Recently, many platforms have shifted toward more permissive policies, which could lead to an increase in the spread of MDH.
A small team at UN Peacekeeping headquarters in New York has been set up to help. The Information Integrity Unit supports missions, monitors and analyzes the digital information environment, and provides missions with tools for dealing with harmful information.
Addressing the emerging community of information integrity experts in Entebbe, Mr. Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, highlighted that he did not want to see a retreat in the progress made so far. For this, he said, the continued political, financial, and technical support of Member States is necessary if we want to continue to prevent conflicts and protect civilians and peace alike.