Ministry issues handbook to help civil society groups handle disinformation
The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science has produced a handbook for organisations working on women's and LGBTIQ+ equality, as the government says disinformation on the subject is spreading more often and can make work unsafe for staff and volunteers.
The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) has produced a handbook, "Dealing with mis- and disinformation" (Omgaan met mis- en desinformatie), to help civil society organisations deal with disinformation and intimidation. It was developed with equality organisations and offers practical support and tools for making choices and taking first steps.
The government says disinformation and misinformation about gender and LGBTIQ+ equality are spreading more often. Organisations working for women's and LGBTIQ+ equality can therefore face unrest, polarisation and sometimes unsafe situations for their staff and volunteers.
The handbook explains what mis- and disinformation are and how to recognise them. It also covers arrangements an organisation can make, for example on reporting and recording incidents and on whether and how to respond, and how to deal with the consequences. It includes short checklists, tips and example questions.
The government says a handbook does not solve the problem of the fast spread of disinformation, and that it wants to limit the risks as much as possible. Through its equal rights policy it continues to work on the equality, freedom and safety of women and LGBTIQ+ people. The Jetten cabinet's approach is set out in the equality memorandum, Freedom Counts (Emancipatienota: Vrijheid Telt).