Media Foundation for West Africa leads talk on the heightened menace of disinformation

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), a key body in media freedom advocacy in the West African sub-region, has initiated deliberations aimed at eliminating misinformation and its menace.

The American Psychological Association (APA) defines misinformation as false or inaccurate information—getting the facts wrong. It also explains disinformation as false information that is deliberately intended to mislead—intentionally misstating the facts.

The MFWA, in collaboration with the National Media Commission and the National Peace Council has observed that the spread of misinformation and disinformation has affected the viability of the country as well as its zeal to maintain a stable democracy.

On this score, the MFWA, as the headliner, partnered with the above-mentioned bodies for a forum dubbed "misinformation, peace, and democratic consolidation in Ghana," held at the Alisa Hotel in Accra on Wednesday, March 22.

In his opening remarks, Muheeb Saeed, the Program Manager in charge of freedom of expression at the MFWA, noted that although misinformation and disinformation are not new. He said they have become more pronounced and telling with the widespread availability of sophisticated forms of information and communication technology, which allows information to go viral within hours.

According to him, given the deep impression that information can make on people's psyches and the influence it can exert on their behavior, the media, and particularly social media, have become important battlegrounds for political and social movements seeking to win the hearts and minds of the public.

"As we all know, competition often breeds unhealthy rivalry bordering on malice, hence the growing toxic nature of political communication and the resulting threat to democracy across the world.

"There is increasing tension between free expression and the need to combat willful and mischievous disinformation, and this tension threatens to undermine the right to free expression and access to information," stated Muheeb Saeed.

Gracing the forum was Prof. Samuel Kwadwo Boateng Asante, known affectionately as Prof. S.K.B. Asante, a Ghanaian lawyer and the Paramount Chief of Asokore in the Ashanti region.

The former international arbitrator asserted that the effects of misinformation are something that needs urgent attention.

The revered King and chairman of the 1991 Committee of Experts, which made provisions for the drafting of the country's fourth republican constitution, said the nation must not tamper with its "young" democracy in its fight against misinformation.

Prof. Asante, who also served on the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, posited however that the country’s constitution affirms the legitimate limitation of some fundamental human rights in the interest of the public.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are here today because this liberal regime has been abused by the purveyors of misinformation, which seems to threaten the political and social order of our country.

"Our Constitution expressly proclaims the legitimacy of limiting the stipulated fundamental rights and freedoms in our Constitution in the public interest," he said in a portion of his speech.

He continued, "In some other countries, the regulation of misinformation is considered repugnant to freedom of expression on the grounds that a democratic society should allow a free market of ideas in which the good ideas will prevail over the bad ideas.

"My question is whether misinformation or disinformation, which involves a false statement of facts whether intentional or otherwise is an idea."

According to him, "it is known from the political experience of some countries that negative political campaigns hurt and that misinformation or disinformation can have a negative impact," he said, while stressing in the concluding part that "the challenge before us is how to address the deleterious effects of misinformation without stifling our young democracy."

On his part, the Executive Secretary for the National Media Commission, Mr. George Sarpong, delivering a keynote address, made a strong case for constitutional regulatory measures to be used for the eradication of misinformation and disinformation.

While acknowledging the impact of fact-checking and media information literacy, the NMC boss alluded that they are not enough because those methods are mostly used after the harm has been done.

"Fact-checking and media information literacy can help address misinformation, but they have limitations. It can only be done after the harm has already been done," he stated.

According to him, the activities of fact-checkers mostly leave some claims unchecked, which makes people believe that they are automatically true, which is not true in many cases.

"It is also becoming the validator of unchecked facts, which may also be true," he emphasised.

Mr. Sarpong, who has over the years been advocating for the media space to be regulated to effect a sense of responsibility and professionalism, debunked claims that it is undemocratic and that it will limit freedom of speech.

"Regulation limits free expression. This is not inherently true. It depends on the nature, content, and form of the regulation.

"In most cases, regulations define the boundaries of operation and therefore guarantee the freedom to operate within the rules," he said.

Moderated by JoyNews’ Evans Mensah, a panel made up of Dr. Victor Doke, a lecturer at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre; Kwaku Krobea Asante, a fact-checker with the MFWA; Richard Ahiagba, the National Communications Director of the NPP; and Mr. Alhassan Suhuyini, MP for Tamale North, gave an insightful discussion on the matter.

Mr. Suhuyini, who was a broadcast journalist before entry to parliament, urged the traditional media to wake up and not rely on or just amplify news on social media without proper verification.

"Traditional media must get it right and become a gatekeeper of a sort," he suggested.

He held a contrary view to that of Mr. George Sarpong’s call for regulation in the media space, in the sense that there are already laws to check that.

Backing him was Manasseh Azure Awuni, a renowned investigative journalist and editor of the Fourth Estate, who noted that there would be a culture of silence should freedom of speech be regulated in Ghana.

He cited some instances where citizens were abused for accusing leaders of corruption and were brutalized without delay, but in one incident, a politician incited the beating of a journalist, in the case of Ahmed Suale, who subsequently died without the person being held accountable.

"We should tread cautiously when it comes to conversations about regulating press freedom because our country isn’t democratic. We go to the elections and elect leaders who can stand up and do whatever they want without recourse to anybody.

"One person will accuse the First Lady of being corrupt and will be attacked the next moment, but another will tell people to beat a journalist, and he is ready to take the cost but will be allowed to walk freely.

"So in this country, we cannot trust leaders to regulate press freedom, because if we do that, people will be totally silenced. Even now, there are people who have been silenced by the traditional media and, as a result, have moved to social media," Manasseh said.

But even amid several rejections of his suggestion for regulations, the NMC boss advised that civil society organizations accept the call and start bringing on board proposals on how they need it to be done so that their voices won’t be late.

The forum was attended by about 100 participants including human right activists, diplomatic corps, ministries, legal experts, CSOs, public/state institutions, UN Agencies and the media.