Enough with the clickbait, Pope Leo told news organizations Thursday, urging journalists to fight against “junk” information and help people to distinguish between fact and fiction.

“Communication must be freed from the misguided thinking that corrupts it, from unfair competition and from the degrading practice of so-called clickbait,” the pope said. “I urge you: never sell out your authority.”

The pope was speaking at a conference in Rome, held by Minds International, a network of global news agencies.

The conference, which runs until Friday, largely focuses on artificial intelligence and the role of news agencies in what it bills as a post-truth world. Pope Leo’s speech also addressed the topic of artificial information and disinformation.

“It is a paradox that in the age of communication, news and media agencies are undergoing a period of crisis. Similarly, those who consume information are also in crisis, often mistaking the false for the true and the authentic for the artificial,” he said.

Pope Leo praised the work of journalists who are risking their lives by reporting on the ground from war zones in Gaza and Ukraine, and urged them to act as a bulwark against disinformation.

“You can act as a barrier against those who, through the ancient art of lying, seek to create divisions in order to rule by dividing. You can also be a bulwark of civility against the quicksand of approximation and post-truth,” he added.