The Helpful Habit of Not Sharing Yet

Would you pass a warning to someone you love before checking whether it is true?

Most of us would say we only want to help. That is precisely why the question matters. Care gives us a reason to share. Responsibility gives us a reason to pause.

A message arrives from someone you trust. It contains a striking claim, a photograph and a request to pass it on. You are busy. Sharing takes a second; checking looks like another task. You may want to warn someone or make sure an important story is not ignored. But good intentions do not establish accuracy.

Global Media and Information Literacy Week ran from 24 to 30 October 2026. In an announcement dated 2 October, UNESCO’s Institute for Information Technologies in Education invited organisations and communities to organise activities, including workshops and discussions.

The invitation offered a practical opening for people to learn together. It is not evidence that misinformation has already decreased. With the week now over, there is a habit worth keeping: practise waiting before passing a claim to somebody else.

Write down the claim

A message can combine several things that feel like one story: an image, a headline, a number, an interpretation and a request for action. Begin by separating them.

What exactly is being claimed? That an event happened? That a rule changed? That a photograph was taken in a particular place? That a product produces a specific result?

If you cannot state the claim clearly, you may not yet know what you would be endorsing by sharing it. This does not require suspicion toward everything. It requires enough clarity to decide what needs checking.

Find where the information began

Imagine a post announcing that a local service has changed its opening hours. The screenshot looks official, but it contains no visible date. The account sharing it may be repeating an older announcement.

Look for the service’s current notice through its established public channel. If the original announcement is available, compare its date, scope and wording with the screenshot. A genuine notice can still be presented in a misleading context.

This example is illustrative, not a documented incident from UNESCO’s campaign.

Ask what the image actually proves

A photograph makes a message vivid without establishing every claim beside it. A chart may show a pattern while leaving out information needed to interpret it. A quotation may be accurate but incomplete.

If an image shows a crowded room, it does not by itself establish why people gathered there. If a number is presented, look for what it measures, the period it covers and where it came from.

When those details are unavailable, uncertainty is an honest conclusion. We do not owe every dramatic message an immediate verdict.

Try a small sharing pause

Here is an editorial exercise, not a research-validated method. Choose one non-urgent message you would normally forward. Before sharing it, write three short lines: What does it claim? What source have I checked? What remains uncertain?

The purpose is to make your judgement visible to yourself. You might confirm the information and share it with a source link. You might discover that only part of it is supported. You might decide that passing it on would add more confusion than value.

Waiting is also a decision. It can be a considerate one.

Make correction easier

If you discover that something you shared was wrong, return to the people who received it. Explain the relevant correction plainly. Where possible, link to the stronger source. Avoid repeating a dramatic false claim unnecessarily when a concise correction will do.

The aim is to repair the information available to others, rather than defend the intention behind your original action. You can have meant well and still need to correct the record.

For a manager, that matters beyond the message itself. Owning a small correction shows colleagues that accuracy matters more than protecting appearances.

Practise without humiliation

A family, classroom or team can discuss a harmless example and compare how people checked it. Keep the focus on the process. Do not use the exercise to embarrass someone who believed a misleading message.

Ask which clue helped, where the original source was found and what could not be established. Make room for “I do not know.” For urgent safety matters, use relevant official channels and professional guidance; a casual checking exercise should not delay emergency action.

Start with one message and one pause. Responsibility does not always look dramatic. Sometimes it looks like a finger stopping just before the forward button.

What would change if “I haven’t checked this yet” became an acceptable answer?

Source and editorial note

UNESCO IITE announcement, 2 October 2026.

Prepared with AI assistance. No interviews or field reporting. Scenarios and exercises are illustrative editorial proposals, not measured campaign outcomes.