Herman Wasserman Presents on Emerging Trends and Impacts of Disinformation in Africa to UNDP
Herman Wasserman recently gave a presentation on “Emerging Trends and impacts of Disinformation in Africa” to the Oslo Governance United Nations Development Programme. The presentation provided a general overview of the issue of disinformation in the region, trends emerging from his and Dani Madrid-Morales’ research and possible interventions to counter...
WHO launches the African Infodemic Response Alliance
The World Health Organization’s Regional Office in Africa joined forces with intergovernmental and governmental organisations, as well as non-state actors across the continent to launch AIRA, to respond to infodemic threats at regional and country levels. Regional activities are critically important for effective infodemic management, and AIRA is an...
Public trust in the media is at a new low: a radical rethink of journalism is needed
A recent report by an independent panel on the ethics and credibility of South Africa’s news media makes for worrying reading. The panel, headed by retired judge Kathy Satchwell, was commissioned by the South African National Editors’ Forum following a series of ethical lapses by the Sunday Times. The...
Researchers at Cardiff University find that people in the UK can spot fake news on COVID-19
Researchers at Cardiff University’s School of Journalism, Media and Culture have found that the UK public can spot fake news about COVID-19, but but don’t realise the UK’s death toll is far higher than in many other countries. In a small-scale, exploratory study, Stephen Cushion, Nikki Soo, Maria Kyriakidou...
[News Story] WhatsApp Viral Messages ‘Drop 70%’ According to the Company
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and after users and governments complained about the amount of misinformation circulating on WhatsApp, the platform announced new measures to curb the virality of messages. Now, WhatsApp says that it has sseen a reduction of 70% in viral messages. There’s been several...
[Media Contribution] Chat with the China in Africa Podcast on Chinese Media, COVID-19 and Misinformation
One of the lead researchers of the Misinformation, Disinformation & False News Research Project, Dani Madrid-Morales (University of Houston), joine the China in Africa Podcast to discuss some of the strategies that Chinese media have been implementing in recent weeks to push back against prevalent narratives around COVID-19 and...
[News Story] A collection of COVID-19-related misinformation in Africa
The BBC’s Reality Check has published a list of health-related misinformation circulating on African social media accounts. Some of the false claims include “that inhaling steam is an effective treatment against coronavirus”, or that people are “retaliating against the Chinese community in Africa” after instances of racism against Africans...