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Factcheckers and several experts from different organizations have converged at the University of Ghana, Accra, for the 2024 Africa Facts Summit.
This summit includes primarily members of the Africa Facts Network which has grown from two organisations in 2017 to over 50 member organisations in more than 30 countries mainly using English, French, Arabic, and Amharic.
The summit, ‘Countering Misinformation and Disinformation in Africa: Challenges, Innovations and Strategic Responses,’ will feature panel discussions, workshops, and a show-and-tell, focusing on the challenges and opportunities in our collaborative efforts to address misinformation in Africa.
Participating organisations, including Roundcheck, will participate in discussions around enhancing digital literacy, advancing fact-checking efforts, partnering with technology platforms to reduce the dissemination of false information, and promoting media literacy among the public.
Join us here for timely conversations from this summit.
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10/9/2024
Onica Makwakwa, Global Digital Inclusion Partnership, pointed out how Gender Disinformation affects the next generation and that factcheckers/journalists have a responsibility to address this because it is about the future—adding that Challenges in Africa include Low media literacy, language, and cultural diversity, digital divide.
We have to begin to recognize racialised disinformation
Onica Makwakwa, Global Digital Inclusion Partnership.
Lessons learned from covering the presidential elections in the DRC and Senegal.
- Ange Kasongo, Balobaki Check, on the Democratic Republic of Congo Presidential election: “Fact-checking letters were shared to community radios, and we were able to share fact-check reports translated in several local languages.” On External influence during the political period, a project “Let us unite” was created to promote communal living.
- Valdez Onanina, Africa Check on Kenya Presidential election: I think right before the elections we have Africa Check and other organisations (Who do not have a political leaning and have editorial independence) that help to draw the attention of the Senegalese populace to disinformation.
Kwaku Krobea Asante, Media Foundation for West Africa (Fact-Check Ghana), noted that gendered and sexualised disinformation in Africa take the features of faslity (not accurate or has no evidence), malign intent (deliberate in a way to cause harm), coordination (purposefully arranged), and malign creativity (coded language; interactive, context-based visual and textual memes)
Focus the broader fact-checking lens on gendered and sexualised disinformation, consciously track and expose the narratives even when it cannot be merely debunked, review verdict meter to include ‘no evidence and not verifiable, build the capacity of factchecekrs on GDBV and gendered disinformation, Platform owners must develop an effective response to gendered disinformation.
Kwaku on how to counter gender disinformation.
Aliyu Dahiru, HumAngle noted that Russia’s disinformation tactics include Amplifying Wagner/Africa Corp activities, framing the French government, anti-west sentiments, and coups halt jihadism.
The Sahel region is battling with a devastating insecurity with terrorism leading to more deaths in the region than both Middle East and South Asia. Russla is exploiting the loophole to exert influence there.
Aliyu Dahiru, HumAngle.
Peter Cunliffe Jones, University of Westminster, said several important questions should be asked when considering the potential for harm. First, what is the main topic or topics of the claim? Second, if the claim is believed, could it lead to a broadly true or false understanding? Next, assessing whether specific substantive consequences could follow if the claim is false and individuals act on the false understanding it generates or reinforces is important.
Additionally, what specific consequences might occur if policymakers or the public act on this false information? Further, we must consider whether the claim has already spread or might spread enough to cause these consequences when acted upon. Moreover, is there a likelihood that the public or policymakers possess the capacity and motivation to act on the false understanding, either now or in the future, in a way that could result in harmful consequences? Finally, if such consequences were to occur, what size of group might be affected?
Prof Guy Berger, Research ICT Africa posited that fact-checkers require several types of datasets to carry out their work effectively. They need post data, which includes all public posts on platforms, along with details such as dates, content, reach, and interactions to assess authenticity and detect coordinated operations. User data is also crucial, as public profile information helps in identifying inauthentic accounts and behaviors.
In addition, fact-checkers seek advert data to identify disinformation actors using advertising spaces. Impact data is necessary to track the number of posts that have been labeled, removed, or downgraded. This data should be broken down by geographic region, languages, key topics, and trends to provide deeper insights.
35 of 55 African countries have data protection laws; 3 have draft laws. 29 states have access to info laws; 17 have draft laws.
Prof. Guy Berger
In other news, fact-checkers were celebrated during the Africa Check Dinner and Awards Night. Chiagozie Nwonwu, Fauziyya Tukur, and Olaronke Alo from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) won the Professional Journalist category. Adnan Salif Hamidou Sidibe, a fact-checker at FasoCheck, won the Professional Fact-Checker category, and Rita Enemuru won the Student category.
