Imagine waking up in a small Pacific island nation and opening your phone to a video of your prime minister announcing a new curfew—except the prime minister never said it. Or receiving a text message that looks like it’s from your bank, but is actually a scam designed to drain your savings. Or seeing a news article shared by a relative that claims a neighboring country is planning to take over your waters, stirring fear and anger for no reason. This is not a distant dystopian scenario; it is happening now, and it is happening more often across the Pacific. According to a new paper from the Pacific Security College, the region is entering a new information era—one full of possibility but also vulnerability. The paper, titled Information resilience: the new frontier for Pacific cooperation, was written by security and development expert Blake Johnson. It argues that the Pacific needs a coordinated regional approach to strengthen what it calls “information resilience.” Misinformation, AI-generated content, and online scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and no single country can protect its people alone. The paper proposes a Pacific Information Resilience Statement—a shared commitment that would help the region respond to these threats while protecting the trust that holds communities and governments together.
The problem Johnson describes is not just about fake news or annoying spam. It is about the slow, quiet breakdown of trust. False information can have immediate, tangible consequences—people may panic, make unsafe decisions, or lose money to cleverly disguised cyber scams. But the deeper damage is more subtle and more dangerous. When people repeatedly encounter AI-generated impersonations of politicians and public figures, they begin to doubt everything they see and hear. They stop knowing what to believe. This erosion of trust affects every part of society. It makes it harder for governments to communicate during cyclones, health emergencies, or other crises. It makes communities more vulnerable to confusion and fear during times of disruption. It weakens democratic confidence and tears at social cohesion. Johnson believes the Pacific should treat information resilience with the same seriousness it treats climate resilience and digital resilience. These are not separate issues; they are connected. Information resilience cuts across development, security, and sovereignty. At its core, he says, the proposal is about protecting trust. Trust allows governments to function, communities to stay calm, and people to make informed decisions. Where cybersecurity protects systems, information resilience protects people, their judgment, and their democratic way of life.
So what would a Pacific Information Resilience Statement actually look like? Johnson and the Pacific Security College envision it as a practical framework for cooperation. It would not be a vague declaration; it would be a guide for future regional initiatives and a way to align external support with Pacific priorities. Too often, outside powers and international organizations bring their own agendas and solutions to the region. A regional statement would help ensure that any help Pacific countries receive actually matches their needs and values. It would also draw on one of the Pacific’s greatest strengths: regional cooperation. The Pacific has a long history of working together on shared challenges, from ocean conservation to disaster response to climate advocacy. Information resilience should be no different. Pacific Security College Director Professor Dave Peebles emphasized that the way information is created, shared, and consumed across the region is changing rapidly. Digital technologies and information flows are borderless. A scam launched from one country can target victims in another within seconds. A rumor spread in a village can become a regional crisis through social media. No country can address these challenges alone. Regional cooperation is essential if the Pacific wants to strengthen its collective capacity to navigate this increasingly complex information environment. The proposed statement would be a foundation for that cooperation—an acknowledgment that the Pacific is in this together.
The paper draws on insights from four regional experts, each bringing a different perspective. Associate Professor Shailendra Singh, Head of Journalism at the University of the South Pacific, compares information resilience to climate change. Inaction is not neutral; it allows the problem to gain momentum. With climate change, scientists warn about tipping points beyond which damage becomes irreversible. Singh says the same is true for the information space. False information, scams, and AI-generated content are already widespread, and once they become entrenched, they become harder and harder to address. The Pacific cannot afford to be reactive; it must be proactive. In-depth Solomons Editor Ofani Eremae makes a powerful point about priorities. For years, regional security discussions have focused on physical infrastructure and climate adaptation. Those threats are real and urgent. But Eremae warns that the invisible erosion of the information ecosystem poses an equally severe risk to democratic institutions, social cohesion, and regional stability. He uses a striking metaphor: there is no use building state-of-the-art, climate-resilient undersea cables if the content running through them is contaminated. In other words, all the physical connectivity in the world is meaningless if the information people receive is poisoned. These experts are not saying climate change is unimportant. They are saying information resilience deserves the same level of attention, funding, and collective action.
The voices of women and civil society are also central to this conversation. Fane Fakafanua, Chief Operating Officer of the Royal Oceania Institute, acknowledges that every Pacific country and government is already trying to combat misinformation and online threats according to its own budget, access, and priorities. But she believes individual efforts are not enough. A regional effort, expressed through a regional statement, would greatly assist in guiding a mutual goal for the islands. It would help governments work together to find solutions, provide training, and support the exchange of ideas. Sharon Bhagwan-Rolls, Network Coordinator of the Pacific Women Mediators Network, adds another crucial dimension. New technologies offer incredible opportunities to support education, elevate diverse voices, and empower women. They can connect communities, amplify marginalized perspectives, and create space for dialogue. But these same technologies can also perpetuate exclusion and online harassment. Women, in particular, often face targeted abuse and intimidation online, which can silence them and push them out of public life. This is not just a personal issue; it is a threat to peace and security. Digital resilience, Bhagwan-Rolls argues, requires a clear strategy for governments and civil society to ensure communication rights. Women need the agency to advocate for their needs and to shape national and regional peacebuilding strategies. An information resilience framework that ignores gender would be incomplete. The Pacific cannot build trust if half its population is being pushed out of the conversation.
Ultimately, this is about more than policy papers and regional statements. It is about everyday people and the world they are building for the next generation. Information resilience is not a technical issue for experts to solve in isolation. It is a human issue. It is about a grandmother in Vanuatu being able to tell the difference between a real government warning and a scam. It is about a young person in Fiji not being manipulated by a deepfake video designed to incite anger. It is about communities trusting each other and their leaders enough to respond calmly and collectively in a crisis. The Pacific has faced enormous challenges before—cyclones, rising seas, economic shocks, and geopolitical pressures. In each case, the region’s strength has come from cooperation. The proposed Pacific Information Resilience Statement is an opportunity to bring that same spirit to the information age. It will not solve every problem overnight. It will not stop every scam or every piece of false content. But it would signal a shared commitment to protect the information environment just as the Pacific protects its oceans and its people. It would help align resources, build capacity, and ensure that the region’s voice is heard on its own terms. As the world becomes more connected and more complex, trust is the most precious resource we have. The Pacific has the opportunity to protect it now, before it is too late.