Kenya is on the cusp of a general election on August 9, 2022, but the country is facing a more insidious threat: a wave of fake news.
According to multiple digital investigations, politicians in Kenya have been hiring young people with online followings to manipulate social media algorithms and sway public opinion.
These individuals, often with large followings, are being co-opted by politicians to spread propaganda, misinformation, disinformation, and falsehoods.
Administrators of social media pages and groups are also leasing their services to political formations, sparking fake debates to gauge sentiments and manipulate perceptions.
Public figures are exploiting their direct access to digital audiences to spread false information, further polluting the electoral information ecosystem.
The problem is not just the crafty users targeting other gullible users on the platforms, but also the sociality and engagement embedded in the platforms, which make it easier for false information to spread like wildfire.
A polluted information ecosystem makes it impossible to have factual conversations, increases polarization, amplifies intolerance, and makes it difficult for the public to make decisions based on reality.
As a result, fake front pages of major newspapers, manufactured screenshots of tweets, videos with false context, fake screenshots of messages and chats, doctored videos and photos, and phony subtitles purporting to translate videos of politicians speaking in vernacular are becoming increasingly common.
The ghosts of foreign companies that executed influence operations in 2013 and 2017, including the defunct Cambridge Analytica, remain alive in Kenya.
Information Integrity ¶
Independent and non-partisan fact-checking remains the quickest reliable vanguard against the spread of false information.
Fact-checkers such as Africa Check, PesaCheck, and AFP Factcheck have partnerships with platforms such as Google and Facebook, enabling them to scale their goal of slowing down the spread of false information.
However, fact-checking alone is not enough. Research has shown that fact-checking works effectively if it is done alongside other initiatives to promote information integrity.
Information and communication professionals must work together to maintain information hygiene during the electioneering period.
Platforms such as Twitter, WhatsApp, Tiktok, and YouTube also have a major role to play in taming the spread of false information.
They must do more to help in the journey towards information integrity, including amplifying fact-checks in search results and implementing proactive prebunking measures.
For the public, the rules are simple: always ask for proof regarding any content received on their phone or seen on social media, and don't share, forward, or retweet anything that cannot be verified.
By working together, we can keep public debate honest, amplify accurate information, and boost media literacy ahead of the 2022 general elections.
