Login

Lost your password?

Sign Up

Register

Login

Login

Lost your password?

Register

Tuesday, May 24, 2022
  • Home
  • Banking
  • Industry & Trade
  • Investing
  • Money Deals
  • Regional Markets
  • Tech & Biz
  • Countries
  • Opinion

Africa's
Investment
Gateway

The Exchange
  • Login
  • Register
Subscribe
This Month's Edition
Previous Editions
  • Home
  • Banking
  • Industry & Trade
  • Investing
  • Money Deals
  • Regional Markets
  • Tech & Biz
  • Countries
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
The Exchange
  • Home
  • Banking
  • Industry & Trade
  • Investing
  • Money Deals
  • Regional Markets
  • Tech & Biz
  • Countries
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
The Exchange
LOGIN
A Facebook post claiming that the image shows Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) troops moving towards the Eritrean border/ Facebook

A Facebook post claiming that the image shows Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) troops moving towards the Eritrean border/ Facebook

Digital disinformation and democratic decline in East Africa

When individuals receive digital disinformation, it breeds grounds for the creation of conspiracy theories that are detrimental to democracy as they can be so bad as to incite violence

by Kanyali Muthui
April 2, 2022
in Tech & Business
0
Share on FacebookShare on LinkedIn

Digital disinformation is becoming an increasingly common feature of Africa’s political landscape.

Africa’s technological space has grown exponentially over the past decade, largely driven by the increased access to mobile devices and internet.

The number of mobile phone users in Africa, 650 million, outnumbers the population of the United States or Europe.

How Africans are using mobile phones

Mobile phone use has increased exponentially as more people in African countries own a cell phone than clean water, a bank account or power.

Communication, radio listening, money transfers, online purchasing, and social media networking are all done via mobile phones in Africa. Many of the disparities between urban and rural areas, as well as the wealthiest and poorest, have been reduced or eliminated.

Similarly, internet prices are coming down while speeds are going up.

With high internet speeds, it is easy for anyone looking, or even sometimes not looking to stumble upon a lot of information.

The problem in Africa has been fast-tracked by the increased reliance on social media platforms for news of any kind.

While increased efforts are being made by these platforms, they may not always be able to pinpoint the falsehoods being shared on their platforms.

As a result, the majority of internet users are unable to discern what is true from what is false. This is where misinformation comes in.

Digital disinformation can be described as false information which is intended to mislead, especially propaganda issued by a government organization to a rival power or the media.

Digital disinformation has a distorting and distracting effect, making it increasingly difficult for the African people to distinguish between “facts” and “false news” while following political, social, and security developments across Africa.

When individuals receive digital disinformation, it breeds grounds for the creation of conspiracy theories that are detrimental to democracy as they can be so bad as to incite violence. This is a trait that has been witnessed in a number of African countries.

Disinformation like this makes it difficult for Africans to make well-informed choices about everyday matters like vaccinations and political participation. Ultimately, the ultimate intent of disinformation in most of these African countries is to sow fear and confusion to advance the political purposes of those spreading these falsehoods.

Two tweets depicting disinformation shared during the Ugandan campaign period/ Twitter

How falsehoods have been used in EA 

Disinformation operations in Africa are often hidden in discretely coordinated social media campaigns.

One good example can be seen in the case of Uganda.

Prior to Uganda’s January 2021 election, a network of falsified social media accounts operating on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter spread coordinated disinformation in support of the ruling party.

32 Facebook pages, 139 Instagram profiles, 220 user accounts, and 59 groups promoting Ugandan president and NRM leader Yoweri Museveni were terminated on January 8, 2020, by Facebook.

Facebook took down the accounts of at least six government personnel and two PR firms as part of a network that used fake and duplicated accounts and misleading sites to influence a public opinion prior to the January 14 presidential election.

The pages were removed for breaking Facebook policy against government intervention, which is coordinated inauthentic conduct on behalf of a government body. To reach Ugandans, this network was founded in the country.

Others were in favour of the opposition with one particular post which was shared widely showing images of tweets it claimed were from former US President Barack Obama, and President Joe Biden, calling for the release of Bobi Wine.

Another example is that of Ethiopia where disinformation played a huge role in the war that broke out in Tigray.

digital disinformation
A Facebook post claiming that the image shows Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) troops moving towards the Eritrean border/ Facebook

After war erupted in November 2020 in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, waging sides have continuously blamed one another on propaganda peddling with sometimes conflicting statements being issued on given scenarios.

For instance, both the Tigray and the Ethiopian forces have always claimed victory in Mekele.

Media Manipulation Casebook observed that the Tigrayan side worked mostly on raising awareness of the conflict, while those in favour of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s administration in Addis Ababa sought to debunk its opponent’s assertions.

When it comes to discrediting anything that contradicts the federal government’s narrative, both official communications and pro-government user posts were found to make incorrect claims.

“It is a complex case that interacts with the geopolitics of the Horn of Africa, historical trauma, activism, hate speech, misinformation, platform manipulation, and propaganda, all in the midst of an ongoing civil conflict,” the study further indicated.

A 2019 Facebook post that claimed that TPLF troops were moving towards Eritrea’s border was said to be FALSE.

“A substantial number of the TPLF’s troops have been pushed closer to the Eritrean border. As a result, the Eritrean army received orders to alert its infantry and mechanized units to the situation. There will be no mercy for the army if a desperate TPLF faction fires on them, Eritrea’s Army Chief, General Ephraim Sibhat, has warned,” according to the Amharic post.

However, fact-checking tools revealed that the photo actually shows Eritrea’s military parade in 2019, according to its description on the Al Mayadeen website.

Similar cases of disinformation inciting political movements and even violence in East Africa have been rampant over the past few years. Other countries including Kenya, South Sudan, even Eritrea have all reported widespread cases of disinformation.

Much as disinformation spreads more widely in African countries, there are still inadequate and sometimes ineffective tools in place to struggle it, making the fight even more difficult.

A ray of hope

Although the fight against disinformation in East African countries is far from over, there seems to be hope.

Africa Check, Pesa Check, Media Monitoring Africa and iLab are some of the fact-checking organizations working across the continent with Facebook to monitor and refute some of the most egregious and prevalent misinformation on social media.

Additionally, Facebook now automatically takes down some duplicate and clearly inauthentic accounts and pages, especially those that have been flagged down by different fact-checking organisations across the globe.

Similarly, in August 2021, Twitter announced it would begin working with two International Fact-Checking Network Code of Principles signatories: Reuters and The Associated Press.

The AP, quoting a press release from Twitter noted that the social media platform will work closely with the two organizations to “surface their fact checks in Twitter Moments, trends and “other surfaces within the platform.”

These efforts, while a major step by the social media platforms is commendable, it is only half the work done.

A lot more needs to be done in terms of educating the masses, especially in Africa on how to spot false information, flag this disinformation and avoid spreading it further.

Tags: Africaconspiracy theoriesDemocracydigital disinformationEast Africafact checkingmanipulationpolitical movementspremiumpropagandaviolence

STATE OF ECONOMY - GET THE REPORT

ASSESSING EAST AFRICA

Loading...

Kanyali Muthui

Kanyali Cynthia is a Kenyan-based financial journalist with key specialisation in data and tech reporting and over eight years of experience.

Related Posts

Mastercard, OPay partner to grow cashless ecosystem www.theexchange.africa
Tech & Business

Mastercard bites a bigger chunk of Africa’s fintech with OPay partnership

May 24, 2022
Twiga Foods launch new subsidiary
Investing

Twiga Foods invests $10 million to launch new subsidiary

May 18, 2022
Nigeria Interswitch secured US$110 million
Tech & Business

Nigeria: Interswitch secures US$110 million investment to scale up operations

May 18, 2022
Next Post
Groundwater Potential in Africa. www.theexchange.africa

Fortifying Africa’s Water Security: Harnessing the Potential of Groundwater

An illustration of Africa/ telecomreviewafrica.com

Accelerating Africa’s digital transformation

Diversified services group Bidvest shows strength in numbers literally from an operational and financial perspective.

Diversified services group Bidvest shows strength in numbers

Please login to join discussion




This months edition

May Edition

Features

EdTech role in African development
Tech & Business

EdTech’s role in African development

by Kanyali Muthui
May 16, 2022
0

Due to the pandemic, the topic of innovation in education has never been more crucial.  While most developed countries moved...

Read more
investment in African science and technology
Tech & Business

Investing in Africa’s science and technology: Where are we now?

by Kanyali Muthui
May 16, 2022
0

The continent’s digital revolution can largely be driven by building the necessary skills for the short- and long-term future, and...

Read more
Fintech revolution in Africa
Tech & Business

The Fintech Revolution in Africa’s FX Markets

by Kanyali Muthui
May 11, 2022
0

With over 548 million registered mobile money users in sub-Saharan Africa, increased internet access and readily available mobile money solutions,...

Read more
www.theexchange.africa
Countries

US – Nigeria Trade Relations: An Overview

by Wanjiku Njugunah
May 2, 2022
0

Nigeria is currently the United States' 54th largest goods trading partner, with US$7.8 billion in total goods trade as of...

Read more
A previous conference for African Insurtech sector. The Insurtech boom is deepening insurance uptake in Africa. www.theexchange.africa
Tech & Business

Insurtech boom deepening the uptake of insurance in Africa

by june njoroge
May 2, 2022
0

Kenya-based Pula is another distinguished insurtech making waves in the continent. It provides small scale farmers with agricultural insurance and...

Read more

News

Banking
Industry & Trade
Investing
Money Deals
Regional Markets
Tech & Biz
Opinion

Countries

Kenya
Tanzania
Uganda
Burundi
Rwanda
Southern Africa
Ethiopia

More

My Account
Contact us
Advertise
About us
Help Center

Subscribers Center

E-paper
Premium Stories
Education Rates
Corporate Subscriptions
Weekely Newsletter

  • My account
  • About us
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Refund Policy – The Exchange
  • Sitemap

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Banking
  • Industry & Trade
  • Investing
  • Money Deals
  • Regional Markets
  • Tech & Biz
  • Countries
  • Opinion
  • Login
  • Sign Up
  • Cart

© 2021 The Exchange - Powered by MediapixManaged by Supported by Digihandler,

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In