Emma Okonji in Johannesburg, South Africa
Political researchers and analysts based in South Africa have blamed the spread of misinformation and disinformation on various social media platforms across Africa, on domestic and foreign political actors, that have vested interests in the African economy.
The experts spoke yesterday, at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa, during the visit of the second cohort of the MTN Media Innovation Fellows from Nigeria to the university, in continuation of their training programme, sponsored by MTN Nigeria, in collaboration with the Pan African University (PAU) in Lagos.
Although the experts said misinformation and disinformation spread faster through social media platforms during political campaigns and political era, they however said misinformation and disinformation did not start with the emergence of social media, but started years before emergence of social media platforms.
Given the implications of misinformation and disinformation on the African economy, the experts said such information has caused public harm and injuries to nations and individuals, through hate speech.
They however called on Nigeria and the media in Africa to be objective in their reports without taking sides with political actors who want to place their personal interests above national and continental interests.
Describing misinformation as the broadcasting of information without verification, and disinformation as the deliberate spread of information, targeted at causing harm to individuals and organisations, Prof. Admire Mare, of the School of Communication, University of Johannesburg, blamed disinformation across Africa on domestic and foreign political actors who have vested interests in the African economy.
Head of Programmes at Media Monitoring Africa, that is based in South Africa, Thandi Smith, advised the media to be transparent and objective in their reporting, especially in political reporting, during election period.
Speaking on the topic: ‘Social Media, Misinformation and Electioneering Campaigns in Africa,’ Smith said Africa had three elections in 2023 alone from Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Democratic Republic of Congo, adding that 74 countries globally would hold elections in 2024, a development, she said, would need transparent and objective reporting from the media, for democracy to thrive in Africa and the world at large.
Smith, stressed the need for online content regulators across Africa to be cautious in regulating online news information, in order not to stifle the truth about online news information.
The Chairperson, Global Online Safety Regulators Network (GOSRN), Dr. Mashilo Boloka, said there would be need for regulation of online news information, based on the given constitution, in order to curtail hate speeches that are harmful to the public.
The experts however called for early education for the African citizens that would help create awareness among people about what constitute misinformation and disinformation.
They called on civil society organisations to do more in engaging with the people and in collaboration with different political groups in curbing misinformation and disinformation during election campaigns. The experts said access to information must be made easy for the African citizens and the media, in order to avoid speculations that could lead to misinformation. They also advised religious leaders to be mindful of what they preach and to align more with the teachings of their religion than with political issues.
