A/HRC/44/49 always, sooner or later, shown to be false, undermine trust in government sources of information, which in turn may generate such public distrust that it becomes difficult for public health authorities to promote effective and proven policies. 46. The COVID-19 pandemic has already triggered a small industry of hucksters seeking to translate people’s desire for a cure into a quick source of profit. The existence of such profiteers prompted the United States Food and Drug Administration to caution several companies that their promises of cures constituted fraud that could result in legal action if not addressed.52 Such consumer protection laws can be vital tools in the effort to protect public health, particularly during a pandemic. Such false claims may, of course, be prohibited and sanctioned so long as the tests of article 19 (3) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights are met. 47. Other sorts of disinformation concerning the COVID-19 pandemic are also circulating in traditional and social media worldwide. Some pertain to troubling political blame games, relating mainly to inter-State disputes, and are not conducive to the kind of international cooperation necessary to meet the challenge of the pandemic. Other forms may be more dangerous, such as information related to quarantines, purported health-care advice and other unverified claims that, if widely pursued, could cause harm to the health of individuals. Any government efforts to counter such disinformation should be based on the principles outlined above: full, honest and evolving communication with the public, the promotion and protection of an independent press, and the careful and public correction of misinformation that could lead to public health harm. Beyond the pandemic, States should take steps to ensure an enabling environment for independent media and educational settings that promote media literacy and otherwise give individuals critical-thinking tools to distinguish between verifiable and unverifiable claims. 48. In the brief period since the COVID-19 outbreak and transformation into a pandemic, a number of States have adopted laws purportedly aimed at sanctioning disinformation concerning the pandemic. Some such laws may legitimately be aimed at protecting privacy rights with respect to a person’s infection status. Those provisions must be consistent with the standards set out in article 17 of the Covenant. In general, however, the approach should reflect the aspects referred to by the Human Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe when she urged Council of Europe member States to ensure that measures to combat disinformation re necessary, proportionate and subject to regular oversight, including by Parliament and national human rights institutions. Measures to combat disinformation must never prevent journalists and media actors from carrying out their work or lead to content being unduly blocked on the Internet. Those countries which have introduced restrictions that do not meet these standards must repeal them as a matter of urgency.53 49. The 2017 joint declaration made clear that general prohibitions on the dissemination of information based on “vague and ambiguous ideas, including ‘false news’ or ‘nonobjective information’ are incompatible with human rights law and should be abolished”.54 Vague prohibitions of disinformation effectively empower government officials with the ability to determine the truthfulness or falsity of content in the public and political domain, 52 53 54 14 See, e.g., Food and Drug Administration, warning letter MARCS-CMS 604885 dated 6 March 2020. Available at https://www.fda.gov/inspections-compliance-enforcement-and-criminalinvestigations/warning-letters/colloidal-vitality-llcvital-silver-604885-03062020. Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, “Press freedom must not be undermined by measures to counter disinformation about COVID-19“, statement issued on 3 April 2020. In a communication sent to Italy (ITA 1/2018), it was noted that an operating protocol on combating fake news contained undefined terms, such as “manifestly unfounded and biased news”, “false” and “fake”, and did not specify with requisite clarity the type of content that was prohibited, thus breaching the legality principle of article 19 (3) of the Covenant. In a response dated 15 May 2018, the Government of Italy reiterated its commitment to protect fundamental rights, including the freedom of opinion and expression. In the letter, the Government confirmed that the protocol was no longer operational as it was conceived solely for the electoral period. The communication and response are available from https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/Tmsearch/TMDocuments.