stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing.d countering misinformation has been a huge challenge over the past year. and with the need to vaccinate hundreds of millions of people, it will continue to be a major issue in 2021. imran ahmed is the head of the ngo, the centre for countering digital hate. how bad is the problem of misinformation? we've seen it flowing throughout this crisis, whether it's about covid itself or the vaccine. my centre has been tracking the growth of the spaces in which that misinformation is spread, but also the impunity with which the key spreaders, the super spreaders of misinformation, have been able to operate, particularly on social media platforms. just give us an idea how it has manifested and what form it takes? we're not seeing key actors, so the key bad guys who have been plotting and in fact our most recent report was a report based on watching them spend three days in a conference discussing how they would exploit the covid crisis, but also the spaces in which they spread that misinformatio

stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing.ting to flee to taiwan by speedboat have gone on trial in mainland china. the activists left hong kong following the introduction of a new, wide—ranging, national security law. danny vincent reports. in a small room on the kowloon side of hong kong, the family members of the detained await news from the mainland chinese court with bated breath. they have hidden their identities in fear of reprisals. their demand is to bring back 12 protesters detained in mainland china, attempting to flee to taiwan. it's unknown when they will hear a verdict. across the border in shenzhen, the trial of the young activists began today. critics say that the mainland chinese legal system is opaque, secretive and arbitrary. family members were not allowed to attend the hearing. neither were these foreign diplomats. the fate of the young protesters will be decided behind closed doors. beatrice lee's brother, andy lee, is one of the 12 detained. he could face life in prison for being in violation of the nati

stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing.tion has been focused on fighting the covid—19 pandemic. but there are now concerns about how the fallout from the pandemic will affect children's health in the long term. earlier, i spoke to robin nandy, the chief of immunisation at unicef. we have to remember that during the course of the covid—19 pandemic, access to health care for children has dropped drastically. we have seen this in declining immunisation coverage, things like emergency obstetric care, emergency newborn care, all existing threats to a child's health like pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria are not receiving the attention that it needs. it's important to note that, even when these services are provided, people have not been able to receive these services because of transport disruptions, lockdowns and so on. we all have to have a concern. . . so on. we all have to have a concern... there so on. we all have to have a concern. . . there are so on. we all have to have a concern... there are so many concerns on child wel

i'm joined now by our china correspondent, stephen mcdonell, in beijing. what it must have felt like in china at the beginning of this year. why has china made this decision? yes, the announcement has come from beijing that it will follow other countries in banning all flights to and from the uk indefinitely. according to the chinese government, they will be closely monitoring the situation in britain and augmenting the control measures as the situation changes. but right now, up until the ban, we had at least eight flights to and from the uk including two from british airways and this has been ramping up from the time there were virtually no flights but now they are all to be cancelled indefinitely. the announcement came from the foreign ministry spokesman and what was said was due to the exceptional nature of the virus mutation in britain and its potential impact, the chinese government will be making this decision. they said they'd been studying the responses from other countries and thought it seemed like the right thing to do. but, i think they were a

our china correspondent stephen mcdonell reports from beijing. of the public. i feel extremely sad. to journalists and members of the public. ifeel extremely sad. how long can this tragedy carry on for? in february this year, she travelled to wuhan to report on the at times chaotic response to the coronavirus outbreak. it wasn't the first time she had come into conflict with the authorities and knew it was potentially risky. she has now been sentenced to four yea rs she has now been sentenced to four years in prison for provoking trouble. lawyers say they are worried she will now resume a hunger strike behind bars. translation: after we left the her mother was crying uncontrollably. translation: she is probably more determined than ever to carry out her hunger strike. coronavirus. .. it has ever to carry out her hunger strike. coronavirus... it has a good story to tell in this regard. it doesn't mean that all the responses have been without problems, especially in the beginning. so perhaps because of because —— because of this, the communist part

' initial response to the virus were widely shared on social media. 0ur china correspondent, stephen mcdonells from beijing. tense scenes preceded zhang zhan‘s brief court appearance in shanghai. access to the hearing was prohibited forjournalists, and members of the general public, including herfriends. translation: i feel extremely sad. how long can this country, these people, this tragedy, carry on for? in february this year, zhang zhan travelled to wuhan to report on the, at times chaotic, early stages of the coronavirus outbreak. blending activism with journalism, she focused on the failings of the government's response to the pandemic. shouting. it wasn't the first time she had come into conflict with authorities and she knew it was potentially risky. translation: maybe i have a rebellious soul. why can't i film this? why can't i show the truth? she has now been sentenced to four years in prison for picking quarrels and provoking trouble. a crime often used to silence dissidents in china. lawyers say they are worried she will now resume a hunger strike behind bars. translation: after we

our correspondent stephen mcdonell who's in beijing gave me some background to the case.peedboat. the goal was to try and reach the self—governing island of taiwan to seek sanctuary. they'd already been charged in relation to certain activities during the protests, the upheaval in hong kong last year, and they feared their punishments. but their dash across the sea was unsuccessful. they were intercepted by the chinese coastguard and, today, in the mainland chinese city of shenzhen, they received their punishments. meanwhile, in hong kong, theirfamilies waited for these verdicts. and what they soon found out was that the two people judged to have organised this ill—fated escape attempt received three years and two years in prison, respectively. eight others are to spend seven months in a mainland chinese jail. and two minors have already been sent back to hong kong. they, however, like all of these activists, will ultimately still have to face court in hong kong in relation to these alleged activities during the protests last year. don't forget you can get in touch with m

here's the bbc‘s stephen mcdonell.tbreak of the coronavirus epidemic in that city. the chinese government is now proud of the response of the coronavirus and some would say with good reason. but people will recall when the coronavirus first broke out, there we re coronavirus first broke out, there were scenes of hospitals flooded with people, doctors collapsing from exhaustion in the hallway. as that city was brought into the world first covid—i9 lockdown. in china, you can do many things that one is not criticise the government. and so somebody like this, who is sort of a citizen journalist as they call themselves here, that's not an accredited journalist with a major news outlet, just going on social media and reporting these types of things, can be a very dangerous things, can be a very dangerous thing to do and she is not the only one. you are watching bbc news, do stay with us. that moment when you pull back the curtains and see the snow, some of us curtains and see the snow, some of us have had that this morning

stephen mcdonell reports.with a foreign country, or so—called "external elements". the 72—year—old pro—democracy media tycoon has long been a thorn in the side of governments in hong kong and beijing. now he's become the highest profile person charged under the city's controversial state security law, and his trial will draw international attention. the headquarters of his apple daily newspaper was raided in august. senior executives including lai were detained. police said that he was suspected were working with foreign forces. last year's mass protests along with widespread reforms in hong kong appeared to take the authorities by surprise, especially the scale of the participation. the government dug in. so to the activists. the longer the unrest continued, the more destructive the clashes became. their solution has been a draconian state security law, making the wearing giving certain t—shirts and the chanting of certain slogans punishable with a prison sentence. the communist party is making no apologies f