Saint Lucia set to host GCTF Media Literacy Forum 

Castries, Saint Lucia: The Government of Saint Lucia collaborates with the Taiwanese and US Embassies and will host the 2023 GCTF Media Literacy Forum on Friday, November 17, 2023, in Sandals Halcyon Beach Resort at Castries, Saint Lucia.

Saint Lucia will accompany the Embassy of the Republic of China- Taiwan, the US Embassy in Barbados, the Eastern Caribbean and the OECS in this forum.

This year, the GCTF- Affiliated Event for the Caribbean and Latin American Region will be organized under the theme, “Building Democratic Resilience against Disinformation and Misinformation.”

It will be hosted- in person with a hybrid GCTF seminar format.

The event will comprise a welcome ceremony, two panels in the morning and keynote speeches and is expected to last three and a half hours.

Those who cannot participate due to distance can witness the event’s activities through a livestream, which will be telecasted on appropriate social media platforms.

Details of the forum

The forum will be divided into two sessions such as,

1. First Session: The first session will explore how to enhance media literacy, including introducing technology or mobile apps to decode the information sources.
2. Second Session: The second session will discuss the impacts of misinformation, propaganda, disinformation and fake news towards democracy. The participants will also discuss and share their experiences of best practices and policy recommendations on dealing with fake news.

Delegates who are supposed to appear in the forum are as follows,

– Prime Minister Philip J Pierre, as he will give the opening speech

– H.E Peter Chia-Yen Chen, Ambassador of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to Saint Lucia

– H.E Linda Taglialatela, US Ambassador to Barbados

– The Eastern Caribbean

– The OECS

H.E Ping-Cheng Lo, a Minister without Portfolio from the Republic of China (Taiwan), will deliver the keynote speech.

As the broadcasting of fake news, hostile revelations, and manipulation have become standard practice on social media, this event is essential to finding ways to deal with these issues.

This disinformation made by active groups with unknown agendas has a severe consequence of the destabilization of society, specifically resulting in the damaged democracy following reasons,

– Manipulating public opinion

– Polarizing social division

– Undermining trust

– Weakening media integrity

– Eroding democratic processes

Therefore, promoting media literacy, fact-checking, transparency, and critical thinking is essential. There is a need to strengthen digital platforms to maintain the health and resilience of democratic systems.