Pope Francis on Saturday denounced “disinformation” and fake news spread in an effort to influence public opinion as journalism’s principal offence.
“Disinformation is the first of the sins, the mistakes – let’s say – of journalism,” Francis told Italian journalists at a Vatican gathering to bestow a journalism prize.
AFP reports that Pope Francis described widely considered a savvy communicator himself, the pontiff returned to the term “sins” to list what he called the four misdeeds of the media, according to the Vatican’s translated statement of his comments.
“Disinformation, when journalism does not inform or informs badly; slander (sometimes this is used); defamation, which is different from slander but destroys; and the fourth is… the love of scandal.”
“I am concerned, for example, about the manipulations of those who interestingly propagate fake news to steer public opinion,” he said, urging a “reawakening of responsibility” in particular as Europe grapples with the ongoing war in Ukraine.
“My hope is that space will be given to the voices of peace, to those who are committed to putting an end to this as to so many other conflicts,” he said.
