A/HRC/44/49 discussions and decision-making. It urges an approach to address the problem of misinformation that fosters public correction of rumours and the calling out of harmful chicanery and that avoids driving such misinformation into places where conspiracy theories defeat rigorous scientific assessments and public health warnings – one rooted in legal frameworks that promote the sharing of reliable information. II. Disease pandemics and the freedom of opinion and expression 7. Popular fictional depictions of pandemics or other disease outbreaks often imagine that the solutions are purely medical and scientific. Yet well before the emergence of COVID-19, the World Health Organization (WHO) highlighted the importance of information and responsible governance in addressing disease epidemics. It advised that managing a global disease should involve not only the coordination of responders, the identification of the particularities of the illness, and specific health interventions. Managing epidemics also requires “risk communication”, an information strategy involving “two-way communication that is dynamic and evolving as the outbreak develops”.4 WHO identified three elements of proper risk communication: (a) the relaying, by authorities, of information “on the nature of the threat and the protective measures that people can take”; (b) an understanding of public and individual fears and concerns that enables authorities to tailor communication appropriately; and (c) the management of rumours, which involves “listen[ing] to such misinformation and correct[ing] examples of it in appropriate ways without delay.”5 8. The WHO guidance for dealing with information in the context of pandemics is consistent with the requirements of international human rights law. It highlights the importance of the State providing reliable information to the public. It also emphasizes the importance of transmitting information in a manner that is sensitive to different audience perceptions and concerns and that is aimed at correction, not penalty. It is possible to further emphasize the dependent relationship between freedom of expression and access to information, on the one hand, and public health on the other. Indeed, the International Health Regulations mandate the implementation of global public health policies “with full respect for the dignity, human rights and fundamental freedoms of persons”.6 9. The WHO guidance, as important as it is, does not answer some of the most pertinent questions concerning the freedom of opinion and expression during a pandemic, such as: What are the State’s obligations when it comes to keeping the public educated about the pandemic, or ensuring that health-care professionals have access to global information about the disease and about steps to address it? To what extent may the public have access to information held by public authorities concerning the pandemic? May a State impose restrictions to ensure that the public receives only “legitimate” information sanctioned by government authorities? May a State impose restrictions on the media concerning the reporting of the pandemic? What kinds of surveillance – likely to become a key feature of tracing the development of the disease – raise alarms concerning freedom of opinion and expression, and what steps should be taken to constrain them? 10. International human rights law provides Governments with guidance to answer these and other questions concerning the information ecosystem at a time of global health emergency. When anchoring these questions in human rights law, it is possible to see that freedom of opinion and expression goes hand-in-glove with public health. It makes sense to start at the most fundamental level, that which recognizes, as the Human Rights Council did, in its resolution 21/12, that freedom of expression is essential to democratic society and a basic condition for development. Similarly, the General Assembly, in its resolution 68/163, emphasized the relevance of free media in building inclusive knowledge societies 4 5 6 4 World Health Organization, Managing Epidemics: Key Facts about Major Deadly Diseases (Geneva, 2018), p. 34. Ibid. WHO, International Health Regulations (2005), art. 3 (1).