Johanna de Tessières
SOS MEDITERRANEE, and Search and Rescue NGOs, are the targets of various disinformation campaigns that aim to discredit their action with the public. The publication “Stop to fake news on search and rescue” counter these “fake news” and explain the facts.
SOS MEDITERRANNE was created by a surge of citizen mobilisation in 2015, but is nonetheless confronted with “fake news” about its humanitarian search and rescue work. But what is “fake news”? It is false information intended to manipulate opinions. They are particularly spread by individuals or groups who exploit the issue of migration.
Faced with polemics and hate speech against people rescued at sea and against the professionals respecting the obligations to save lives at sea, SOS MEDITERRANEE responds to preconceived or false ideas with its publication “Stop to fake news on search and rescue”.
To re-establish the truth, we rely on reliable sources, facts documented by recognised organisations (UN, universities, etc.) and on the legal texts governing search and rescue. Finally, for the sake of transparency, we only report direct observations at sea, attested by the journalists who embark on the Ocean Viking on each mission and who do their work in complete independence.
Illustration above by Rodho, taken from the leaflet “Stop to fake news on search and rescue”.
