Misinformation, « fake news », and cybersecurity issues constitute severe threats to organizations like the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), an impartial, neutral and independent organization whose exclusively humanitarian mission is to protect the lives and dignity of victims of armed conflict and other situations of violence and to provide them with assistance. Early 2022, the ICRC was the victim of a complex cyber-attack that led to a massive data breach. A few weeks later, in the wake of the international armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the organization faced a strong disinformation campaign that triggered numerous insults and threats, online and on the ground, that raised security concerns.

Externally, such events can generate reputation damage, verbal or physical threats that might ultimately lead to security incidents, and the inability to deliver protection and assistance on the ground. Internally, they illustrate the difficulty of retrieving and gathering relevant information to counter wrong narratives. In this context, evidence and secured reliable data are a priority. But in an organization present in 100 countries and with a high turnover of staff, institutional memory is short, and information scattered.

Therefore, what is the role of archives, in this case those of the ICRC, in ensuring that trustworthy evidence is available and efficiently used to fight misinformation?

While a dedicated team oversees cybersecurity at the ICRC, the archives acquire, preserve, and share evidence of the organization’s activities across time and space. To fight misinformation, we need to be informed ourselves. Therefore, among many other activities, the archives help managers and staff to find the relevant information they need for their work and decision-making. They share evidence of the ICRC’s work in the recent or distant past.

Every year, the archives answer hundreds of internal requests related to issues such as the content of former discussions with stakeholders, older legal analysis, or information on past activities. Archivists also work proactively. For instance, they create ad hoc collections of the most relevant documents related to security management for easy use and access by senior managers in the field.

Moreover, archivists and historians carry out historical analysis and produce overview notes. They might summarize the ICRC’s action in a dedicated country, focus on a specific type of activity or elaborate on transversal thematic issues – such as detention, missing people, or peace – analyze relations with parties to conflict, or simply provide a succinct chronology of events.

Snapshot of the in-house FOCUS platform used by staff to retrieve useful summaries of ICRC activities

Fighting misinformation can also be achieved through public outreach and independent research. Archivists, librarians, and historians participate in conferences and public events. They publish in academic or general journals, blogs – including a dedicated one – and use their own channels to reach as many people as possible. For example, the historians have analyzed and published on issues such as confidentiality, the ICRC’s neutrality, its role as neutral intermediary, etc. Some of these publications have become reference documents for external use.

The ICRC archives are open to the public for the period 1863- 1975. Some resources like audiovisual material and publications held by the library are accessible online. External visitors such as historians, journalists, students, or lawyers carry out research and publish studies on the ICRC’s action, offering new perspectives and nuances to the organization’s own analysis.

The support provided by the archives has an undisputable value. Evidence from the archives sustains the ICRC’s work and operational continuity. They contribute to the organization’s coherence and evidence-based humanitarian action. Thanks to a good relationship with the governance and operations, the archives also bring long-term perspective for decision-making, including on institutional strategies. Research carried out by the archives debunk internal and external wrong assumptions about the ICRC’s history, mandate, and action. In other words, evidence shared by the archives brings arguments to counter misinformation that can be used by the organization in its confidential dialogue or in its public communication.

Externally, the archives and their services contribute to the history and memory of countries and communities affected by armed conflict and violence. Their collections showcase evidence of human suffering and the concrete application of international humanitarian law. They enable independent and critical research. Outreach activities of the archives help to understand the ICRC’s mandate, its action, and enrich knowledge about the ICRC, thus directly and indirectly contributing to the fight against misinformation.

However, to achieve this ambitious goal, maintain trust in the collections and ensure their efficient use, the archives face many challenges with regards to the archiving and preservation of digital records.

To be trusted, they need to preserve authentic information. Ensuring the acquisition of records according to professional standards in an organization with more than 20.000 staff not necessarily aware of the importance of archiving requires constant efforts to ensure the proficiency of producers as well as the quality of records and of their filing. A close collaboration between archivists, information management specialists and producers in the field is necessary.

Moreover, the identification, evaluation, contextualization and analysis of evidence filed in archives require specific skills. Despite the availability of numerous tools and the evolution of technology, trained professionals undeniably have skills that other staff do not have. They remain crucial to retrieve evidence and sustain knowledge against misinformation.

At a time of misinformation, archives document truth and favorize trust. This can only be achieved by combining the best of digital tools with the human added value of trained professionals. Minimizing one of these prerequisites could have harmful consequences.

This contribution was initially published in Flash, the digital magazine of the International Council on Archives (ICA), No. 44, https://www.ica.org/flash-issues/ It is reproduced here with the authorization of the ICA[1]

[1] Our thanks go to Maria Paula GARCIA MOSQUERA