Maldives Minister Calls for Upholding Journalistic Ethics to Counter Misinformation at World Media Summit

Beijing, China – Minister for Strategic Communication at the Office of the President Ibrahim Khalil has called for the highest standards of journalistic ethics to be upheld to ensure the safety of the future, speaking at the 7th World Media Summit in Beijing, China. Addressing the opening ceremony of the summit, Minister Khalil highlighted recent advancements in the media sphere and acknowledged the efforts of China’s Xinhua news agency in uniting global media on a single platform. He noted the relevance of this year’s theme, “Media in an Era of Wisdom: A Practical Arena for Consensus,” describing it as a call for collective action to build a reliable international media system. Minister Khalil emphasized that media resources across different regions are developing at varying levels, and urged countries to support each other to fully leverage modern communication tools. He called for mechanisms to exchange information and knowledge. Pointing to the challenges posed by emerging artificial intelligence and automated systems, Minister Khalil warned that distinguishing accurate information from falsehoods has become increasingly difficult. He expressed concern that user-generated content often fails to maintain journalistic ethical standards, leaving the public vulnerable to misleading stories and misinformation. “In this era, we must clearly acknowledge the widespread danger of malicious information, misleading information, and fake news,” Minister Khalil said. He added that accepting the existence of such issues is the first step toward finding a solution. To counter these dangers, Minister Khalil called for global cooperation and urged all media stakeholders to uphold journalistic ethical standards at the highest level. He stressed the need for increased training programs and warned that mere discussions and agreements without practical measures would leave the public exposed to deception. Minister Khalil concluded by urging resolve to close technological gaps, strengthen ethical standards, and build robust institutions, calling for a media environment based on reality.