Disinformation, privacy and data protection The evidence collected by FRA shows that disinformation – that is verifiably false or misleading information – around the COVID-19 pandemic is widespread. Disinformation undermines democracy affecting political decision-making, and can weaken freedom of expression and information safeguards (Article 11). The European Commission is active in tackling online disinformation and provides useful guidance in this regard. — E vidence collected by FRA indicates that disinformation around the Coronavirus pandemic is widespread in almost all Member States. Authorities in the EU Member States moved quickly to warn citizens to be wary of disinformation concerning the COVID-19 outbreak and instead seek reliable sources of information. Many established dedicated government websites set out to proactively provide reliable information.  everal Member States recalled that spreading disinformation is illegal and may have —S legal consequences. — Governments, the private sector and civil society organisations implemented selfregulatory actions to combat disinformation, such as teams to flag and respond to it, statements emphasising the principles of quality journalism, and guidance to journalists and social media influencers.  o ensure that everyone can access the correct information, many Member States —T provide this information in multiple languages. However, challenges remain in that this information is accessible to persons with disabilities, those with literacy issues, and hard to reach groups such as those in asylum reception centres. All EU data protection authorities (DPAs) issued statements and/or opinions linked to the Coronavirus pandemic, providing guidance to public authorities, employers and the media on how to uphold data protection standards in their efforts to combat COVID-19. These statements reaffirm that the rights to health and to the protection of personal data go hand-in-hand. They also underline that any measure which would infringe the rights to private life and data protection (Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter) should be grounded in law, necessary, and proportionate. — In the area of employment, advice from DPAs was not always harmonised across the EU. For example, in some Member States DPAs indicated that employers may not collect and process personal data related to either symptoms or infection among employees unless workers have voluntarily provided their personal data and agreed to their processing. Others indicated that employers can request personal information related to symptoms and/or infection, if such collection is proven to be necessary. — The evidence collected by FRA indicates that generally the information concerning COVID-19 published in the media does not contain personal data. 12