Information resilience: the new frontier for Pacific cooperation

Executive summary

Trust in the Pacific is under threat

The Pacific’s information environment is evolving rapidly. Expanded connectivity, social media use, undersea cable investment and the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) tools are transforming how Pacific communities access, share and shape information.

This transformation brings major opportunities for economic participation, access to services, education and regional connection. But it also creates new vulnerabilities.

Across the region, Pacific governments and communities are confronting a wide range of information harms, including:

• misinformation regarding elections, health, disasters and overseas job opportunities
• cyber-enabled fraud and scams
• AI-powered impersonation of leaders, public figures and citizens
• coordinated disinformation campaigns shaping narratives and political divides.

These incidents often have immediate real-world consequences, but their deeper long-term effect is the erosion of trust between governments, media and communities.

At its core, this proposal is about protecting trust.

Trust underpins deep Pacific traditions of knowledge sharing and cooperation within and between countries across the region.

When trust weakens, governments struggle to communicate during crises, misinformation spreads more rapidly, and public confidence in institutions declines.

In a region facing increasing geopolitical competition and digital disruption, protecting trust has become a strategic priority.

Information resilience is the solution

Regional cooperation on shared issues is one of the Pacific’s greatest strengths. In recent years, that cooperation has led to greater investment and support for climate resilience and digital resilience. Building information resilience should be the new frontier for regional cooperation.

Information resilience is the ability of societies, institutions and individuals to anticipate, withstand, adapt to and recover from harmful or misleading information.

Where cybersecurity and digital resilience protect systems and infrastructure, information resilience protects people, trust and decision-making. It strengthens the ability of governments, media and communities to communicate clearly, identify false information, and maintain confidence during periods of disruption.

This paper argues that information resilience should be treated in the same way as climate and digital resilience across the Pacific: as a cross-cutting regional priority linked to development, security and sovereignty.

A Pacific Information Resilience Statement is the first step

Information resilience is a new framing of an old idea of maintaining trust and ensuring space for the truth. But in order for it to be prioritised through regional institutions and coordinated action, the region needs a Pacific Information Resilience Statement.

The statement should demonstrate a commitment to protecting communities from false information, reinforce democratic integrity, and signal collective expectations of responsible behaviour online and in media and government communications.

It should aim to provide a practical framework for cooperation, guide future regional initiatives and help align external support with Pacific priorities.

There are three key objectives for regional cooperation that should be addressed by the statement, based around media, communities and government. These objectives are to:

1. Strengthen media and communication pathways
2. Protect communities and maintain public trust
3. Safeguard sovereignty and self-determination in the information space.

Media, education institutions and community leaders need to be empowered now to strengthen communication channels, support digital literacy, and build region-wide information resilience.

Pacific leaders must address the information challenge if they want to take the lead in shaping the region’s information future.

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In conversation with

Associate Professor Shailendra Singh

Head of Journalism, University of the South Pacific

Ofani Eremae

Co-founder and Editor, In-depth Solomons

Fane Fakafanua

Chief Operations Officer, Royal Oceania Institute

Sharon Bhagwan-Rolls

Network Coordinator, Pacific Women Mediators Network

About the Pacific Security College Policy Paper Series

This paper is published by the Pacific Security College. It reflects the views of the author alone and isn’t an official statement on behalf of the College, its funders, or the Australian National University. The Policy Paper Series aims to contribute a diversity of views and ideas to the regional conversation about the journey to 2050.