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class="post-subtitle ajaxlink"> An African Perspective </a> <span class="meta"> <span class="author"> By <a class="ajaxlink" href="https://blog.witness.org/author/nkemwitness-org/">Nkemakonam Agunwa</a> </span> </span> </div> </div> </div> </div> <script> var img = jQuery("<img />").attr('src', 'https://i0.wp.com/blog.witness.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Africa_Misinformation_Blog_twitter.png?fit=2160%2C1080&ssl=1') .load(function() { if (!this.complete || typeof this.naturalWidth == "undefined" || this.naturalWidth == 0) { } else { jQuery('#card-28848 .image-background').animate({opacity: 1}, 540, function() {jQuery('.image-background.thumb').fadeOut()} ); } }); jQuery(function() { // ios viewport height (vh) fix $card = jQuery('#card-28848.article-card.squarebig'); var is_iphone = /(iPhone|iPod)/g.test( navigator.userAgent ); var is_ipad = /(iPad)/g.test( navigator.userAgent ); if(is_iphone) { $card.css("height", 600); $card.find('.image-background').css("height", 600); $card.find('.image-background').css("background-attachment", 'scroll'); }; if(is_ipad) { $card.css("height", 800); //$card.find('.image-background').css("height", 700); $card.find('.image-background').css("background-attachment", 'scroll'); }; }) </script> </div></div> <div id="primary" class="content-area"> <main id="main" class="site-main" role="main"> <article id="post-28848" class="post-28848 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-ideas category-safety-security category-video-for-change tag-africa tag-disinformation tag-misinformation tag-technology"> <div class="entry-content"> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Misinformation and disinformation are arguably as old as humanity. The popular myth that bats are blind is scientifically inaccurate, and thus a misinformation. </span><a href="https://wtamu.edu/~cbaird/sq/mobile/2013/04/09/why-are-bats-blind/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Research</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> has proven that bats are anything but blind. They see in black and white and at night they have the potential to see even better than humans. The introduction of information technology particularly social media has undoubtedly magnified the impact of mis/disinformation. It has opened up the space for an exponential spread of unchecked</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">information at lightning speed</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">thereby challenging truth and reality, stirring division and conflict, breeding a skeptical public, threatening democracies and contributing to human rights violations. </span></p> <p><b>Mis/disinformation in Africa</b></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The toxic polarisation of recent elections across the world and the rapid spread of false information about the </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7721433/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">COVID-19</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> virus have demonstrated the harmful potential of mis/disinformation. People have lost loved ones, experienced severe health complications, been excluded, ostracised, attacked, harassed and discriminated against as a result of the proliferation of mis/disinformation. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In Nigeria, there was the pervading belief that </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7568914/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Nigerians were immune</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to the COVID-19 virus. This originated from the false belief that Blacks possess a natural protective response to SARS-CoV-2. Furthermore, the hysteria around hydroxychloroquine as a cure for COVID-19 resulting from the unsubstantiated claim in the viral video by the Nigerian trained US physician Dr. Stella Emmanuel, led to panic purchase and </span><a href="https://thenationonlineng.net/covid-19-nigerians-stockpiling-chloroquine-ptf-raises-alarm/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">stockpiling of the drug</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Despite extensive </span><a href="https://guardian.ng/news/nigeria/nigeria-still-testing-hydroxychloroquine-chloroquine-for-covid-19-treatment/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">media coverage</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to debunk these claims, people relied on this misleading information resulting in </span><a href="https://guardian.ng/news/nigeria/national/nigeria-reports-chloroquine-poisonings-after-trump-comments/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">chloroquine poisoning</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and refusal to comply with COVID-19 protocols thereby increasing the risk exposure to the virus. Also, the conspiracy theory that 5G is linked to the virus led to widespread panic and </span><a href="https://www.gov.za/speeches/minister-ndabeni-abrahams-condemns-destruction-cellphone-network-towers-7-jan-2021-0000#" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">attack</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> on 5G infrastructures in countries like South Africa. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In the aftermath of the 2017 general elections in </span><a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2017/8/17/how-kenya-became-the-latest-victim-of-fake-news" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Kenya</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, mis/disinformation played a significant role in escalating the post-election violence in the country. The opposition coalition claimed that </span><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-kenya-election-opposition-idUSKBN1AS0KZ" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">100 people</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> had been killed by police officers while official reports from the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights placed the </span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/at-least-24-reportedly-killed-in-kenya-post-election-violence/2017/08/12/101b002c-7ef0-11e7-b2b1-aeba62854dfa_story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">death toll at 24. </span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">This contributed to the heightened political tension in the country.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Countries from across Africa are actively pushing back against mis/disinformation. Individuals and groups from across the continents have launched campaigns to counter myths around the COVID-19 virus and dispel misleading narratives. An interesting example is Sarah Dawns, a South African also known as </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/molecularSarah/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mistress of Science</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> who fights medical misinformation on social media. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Centre for Disease Control in most African countries provides frequent updates on the number of confirmed cases, successful treatment and deaths related to the virus in their respective countries. </span><a href="https://fojo.se/rwanda-fighting-rumors-and-fake-news-about-covid-19/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Fojo and Pax Press</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> along with </span><a href="https://africacheck.org/who-we-are" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">AfricaCheck</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> are building the capacity of journalists in Rwanda on fact checking, verification and cyber security. These are timely and innovative efforts on the continent that help fight mis/disinformation. However, the growing number of mobile phone users on the continent, coupled with the declining trust in mainstream media and the widespread use of encrypted messaging applications like WhatsApp, make these interventions grossly insufficient to surmount the evident challenge. Furthermore, </span><a href="https://republic.com.ng/vol3-no3/africa-misinformation-struggles/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">research</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> shows a high exposure to perceived misinformation in some African countries and a heightened propensity of citizens to intentionally share false information.</span></p> <p><b>Layers of Bias</b></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">What motivates people to share misleading information? The spread of misinformation plays to the natural instinct of humans to gravitate towards information that is familiar and aligns with preexisting beliefs. This sometimes shows up in the form of bias, which is influenced by our experiences, education, values and preferences among other factors that shape our world view.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A </span><a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/359/6380/1146.full" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">2018 study</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> on the spread of true and false news online found that false news spreads significantly farther, faster, deeper, and more broadly than the truth by a substantial margin. Evidently, bots share the digital space with humans and are programmed to disseminate inaccurate news. In this particular study, when all bots were removed from the dataset, the differences between the spread of false and true news remained the same – lending credence to the hypothesis that humans, not bots</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">,</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> propel the spread of misinformation. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Internet has presented a plethora of information sources projecting news stories in nanoseconds</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">,</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> all competing for the attention of the user. This creates information overload that makes it impossible for the user to effectively assimilate the multiplicity of online content. In order to make sense of it, the human brain develops </span><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/heuristic-technique" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">heuristic</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> techniques that help it make quick and effective analysis of information. Unfortunately, these techniques are laced with layers of bias that make the user vulnerable to mis/disinformation and provide a fertile ground for its spread.</span></p> <p><b>Cognitive Bias</b></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Increasingly, content creators are becoming more adept at grabbing the attention of users by deploying a variety of tricks that makes it easier for users to respond more favorably to their content having understood their cognitive biases. These </span><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317344882_Cognitive_bias" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">cognitive biases</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> include confirmation bias, conformity effect, overconfidence, availability bias, naive realism etc. Users are more likely to resonate with information that confirms their prior beliefs and values and discard or challenge any information to the contrary. They</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">would be more inclined to promote content that affirms their identity, status, and religious beliefs or ideology even though the content might be misleading. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For example, the </span><a href="https://qz.com/africa/1708814/what-is-behind-south-africas-xenophobic-attacks-on-foreigners/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">xenophobic attacks in South Africa</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> were fueled by the claims that the influx of foreigners create unemployment for citizens, overburden sectors such as health care and cause insecurity in the country. This resulted in violent attacks on foreigners as it confirmed the held belief by many South Africans that foreigners are a threat to their identity and safety, given their history of discrimination under the apartheid regime. A joint </span><a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/9789264085398-en.pdf?expires=1625482168&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=764425EE40BDC3A762C6681FFA6916F2" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">report</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> by the OECD Development Centre and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) reveals that there are no significant effects of immigrant workers on native-born employment at the national level. In fact, immigrants in South Africa have a positive net impact on the government’s fiscal balance because they tend to pay more in taxes. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In Nigeria, the vicious </span><a href="https://africacenter.org/spotlight/confronting-nigerias-kaduna-crisis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">conflict</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> between the Fulani pastoralists and the predominantly Christian Indigenes that has long ravaged southern Kaduna, an area in northern Nigeria, has significantly been </span><a href="https://www.premiumtimesng.com/investigationspecial-reports/416497-investigation-inside-the-bloody-southern-kaduna-carnage-where-all-sides-are-casualties.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">fuelled by emotionally charged narratives and exaggerated claims.</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> This has led to human and material losses on both sides. Whereas, the underlying cause of this conflict is the scramble for limited land, and other resources exacerbated by climate change and the government’s failure to protect the people.</span></p> <p><b>Societal Bias</b></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The need for validation is a major motivation to identify with a community, feel a sense of belonging and acceptance. People tend to gravitate more towards communities that share their values and ideologies and as a result, information flow within these circles is rarely challenged because of the common belief in each other’s credibility and the fear of ostracization. This creates an </span><a href="https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/science-technology/living-inside-social-media-eco-chambers-ideological-conditioning-through-information-bias-73225" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">echo chamber </span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">with limited room for divergent views, making it difficult for misinformation to be detected. This vicious circle sows division within the larger society because people are existing in silos and are uninformed about the nuance of other groups and communities. This is a slippery slope into an ‘us versus them’ scenario</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">,</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> which tears communities apart. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Furthermore, there is the tendency to assume that trending or popular opinions are accurate. Oftentimes we have seen tweets with massive engagements of </span><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/masks-disinfectants-trump-s-coronavirus-theories-n1241793" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">influential figures</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> being taken as fact because they have the approval of the community, thereby creating a false social consensus, or clout. These are societal conditionings and trappings that are ripe for manipulated content to percolate, tear down and fracture communities. </span></p> <p><b>Technology-Aided Bias</b></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Internet presents an endless web of information that could overwhelm users with irrelevant data. In a bid to create tailored content that meets the information needs of individual users, the algorithm selectively guesses what information a user would find useful or interesting based on their digital footprint. Consequently, users are consistently fed with personalised content that align with their beliefs, desires and motivations. This reinforces their existing biases and further isolates them from divergent views and ideologies thereby creating a condition Eli Pariser describes as a </span><a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles?language=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">filter bubble</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This bias in machines makes users more vulnerable to conspiracy theories, hyper-partisan content and outright fabrication. The filter applied using algorithms leads to an inundated exposure of monolith information which has a negative effect on civic debates. Furthermore, based on frequency algorithms alone, popular content, regardless of the quality or accuracy, is projected to users in an unsolicited manner, capturing their attention. This is particularly dangerous because the system can be manipulated or gamed by anyone with nefarious intent to spread mis/disinformation.</span></p> <p><b>WITNESS Approach to Combating Mis/Disinformation</b></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Over the last three years, WITNESS has </span><a href="https://blog.witness.org/2020/04/witness-joins-75-experts-calling-platforms-preserve-data-takedowns-covid19/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">provided recommendations</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to technology platforms to help make users less vulnerable to mis/disinformation. Technology platforms must understand the responsibility they owe society as the primary gatekeepers of information flow to ensure information is not just relevant but important, challenging, and holds other viewpoints. Technology platforms’ responses to the spread of mis/disinformation during the pandemic has shown the benefit in promoting accurate information in-platform and helping users find and recognise them. This has to be scaled up to include all kinds of information and not just COVID-19 specific information. This should be done in addition to other steps taken to increase their commitment to more resourcing in the global south, as well as </span><a href="https://blog.witness.org/2021/01/truth-lies-accountability-2021/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">using a human rights based approach</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> in their policies.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">WITNESS has also embarked on a series of workshops in the global south aimed at tackling the threats posed by AI-enabled forms of media manipulation. We have identified media literacy as one of the effective ways for combatting mis/disinformation. This was one of the </span><a href="https://blog.witness.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/WITNESS-South-Africa-Deepfakes-Workshop-Report.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">findings </span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">from our </span><a href="https://www.power3point0.org/2019/11/21/demystifying-deepfakes-a-conversation-with-sam-gregory/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">deepfakes</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> convening in Sub-Saharan Africa orgainzed </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">in collaboration with the</span> <a href="https://www.chr.up.ac.za/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Centre for Human </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Rights, University of Pretoria</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. This is why we are currently embarking on a project for West Africa that seeks to identify the best ways for reducing the harm caused by misinfo/disinfo especially to grassroots communities.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Other initiatives being embarked upon by WITNESS and our partners include: drafting of an </span><a href="https://blog.witness.org/2021/07/deepfake-detection-skills-tools-access/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">access protocol</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> for deepfakes detection tools; contributing to the development of a responsible, human rights respecting </span><a href="https://blog.witness.org/2020/05/authenticity-infrastructure/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">authenticity infrastructure</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and the development of user-friendly verification and accountability tools. Also, WITNESS </span><a href="https://blog.witness.org/2020/05/covid-19-misinformation-response-assessment/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">developed a set of criteria</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> through which the wide range of possible responses technology platforms adopted in fighting COVID-19 related mis/disinformation can be assessed, using a framework based on human rights, our experience working with marginalised communities and human rights defenders globally.</span></p> <p><b>Pause before Sharing</b></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Biases are a blind spot</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">,</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and it is important we open ourselves up to information that may not necessarily align with held beliefs and ideologies. The golden rule is to pause before sharing any content. Also, it is important to engage in preliminary, own</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">investigation</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">that would help reach an objective conclusion such as</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">:</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> seek out different opinions, hear others out, question the source, and corroborate with other credible media sources. This is known as the </span><a href="https://www.wired.com/story/opinion-the-world-needs-deepfake-experts-to-stem-this-chaos/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">SIFT method</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In navigating through the algorithmic biases of websites and social media platforms to ensure balanced information, there are some strategies, though limited, that can be helpful, such as: clearing out search entries regularly; using multiple search engines for queries; concealing IP addresses where possible, and more importantly, actively seeking out trustworthy materials that hold divergent viewpoints. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There is no magic bullet for eliminating mis/disinformation. </span><a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/05/25/999841030/black-lives-matter-fights-disinformation-to-keep-the-movement-strong" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Human rights movements will always have adversaries</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">that infiltrate and sabotage futures free of deception. The solution must be multi-pronged and cross cutting. As Julia Koller brilliantly puts it – “Information is only as reliable as the people who are receiving it. If readers do not change or improve their ability to seek out and identify reliable information sources, the information environment will not improve”. To improve the information ecosystem, we must adopt some healthy digital behaviour, and this includes keeping our biases in check.</span></p> <p><b>More Resources:</b></p> <p><a href="https://blog.witness.org/2021/06/nigeria-twitter-ban-wrong/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Wrongfulness of Nigeria’s Ban on Twitter</span></a></p> <p><a href="https://blog.witness.org/2021/01/truth-lies-accountability-2021/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Truth, Lies and Social Media Accountability in 2021</span></a></p> <p><a href="https://blog.witness.org/2019/12/africa-fear-state-violence-informs-deepfake-threat/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">In Africa, Fear of State Violence Informs Deep Fake Threat</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span></p> <p><a href="https://blog.witness.org/2019/12/fight-deepfakes-build-media-literacy-africa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">To Fight Deep Fakes Build Media Literacy, Say African Activists </span></a></p> <p><a href="https://blog.witness.org/2020/01/twitter-facebook-synthetic-media-policy-activist-feedback/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Twitter Released A Draft Policy on Synthetic Media. Here’s What Stood Out to the Activists We Consulted.</span></a></p> <p><a href="https://blog.witness.org/2020/05/covid-19-misinformation-response-assessment/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">COVID-19 Misinformation and Disinformation Responses: Sorting the Good from the Bad</span></a></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Author:</strong> Nkemakonam Agunwa is Project Coordinator for Africa at WITNESS, where her focus is on countering the proliferation of manipulated media and mis/disinformation, that undermine the trustworthiness of video evidence and incite violence. 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