Viral misinformation: The social media menace
Can technology save us?
The evolution of technology has brought about dramatic transformation in the channels through which information is shared. Social media has gradually become a vibrant channel utilised by many for sharing information and making it easier for content to go viral. At the same time, it has become prone to abuse and manipulation.
A lack of newsroom resources means many news vendors in Sierra Leone are too stretched to commit to the rigorous process of authenticating information before sharing. This leads to misinformation and subsequently opens the way to distort the public’s knowledge in certain subject areas.
Given such significance, Code for Sierra Leone has embarked on creating awareness and fostering information management in the media. One of its ultimate missions is to empower newsrooms and journalists to drive the use of digital journalism by providing access to authentic information to the citizens, which ultimately enhances their ability to make informed decisions.
On the course of this developmental journey, Code for Sierra Leone launched the ‘Open Government Fellowship Program’ that on-boarded three fellows. This is an innovative program that aims to help the Sierra Leone government adopt technological tools to become more engaging with its citizens.
Fellows’ facilitation of Hacks/Hackers community
As part of the fellows’ ongoing commitment with the growing tech community in Freetown, the Hacks/Hackers Freetown meetup on December 1 delivered training to participants on how to manage misinformation on social media. This training focused on guiding journalists in utilising digital tools to authenticate information before publication. The session aimed at catalysing information management for news sharing to promote civic technology.
The session generated positive feedback and anticipation for continuation of the series as it deals with prominent issues of today’s digital age.
Watch this space to learn about our next offerings in the civic tech space in Salone!
About the author
Avril Pratt is a community development ambassador and program coordinator to Code for Sierra Leone. You can connect with her on Facebook, LinkedIn.
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The worlds of hackers and journalists are coming together, as reporting goes digital and Internet companies become media empires.
Journalists call themselves “hacks,” someone who can churn out words in any situation. Hackers use the digital equivalent of duct tape to whip out code.
Hacker-journalists try and bridge the two worlds. Hacks/Hackers Africa aims to bring all these people together — those who are working to help people make sense of our world. It’s for hackers exploring technologies to filter and visualize information, and for journalists who use technology to find and tell stories. In the age of information overload and collapse of traditional business models for legacy media, their work has become even more crucial.
Code for Africa, the continent’s largest #OpenData and civic technology initiative, recognizes this and is spearheading the establishment of a network of HacksHackers chapters across Africa to help bring together pioneers for collaborative projects and new ventures.
Follow Hacks/Hackers Africa on Twitter and Facebook and join the Hacks/Hackers community group today.
