AU Must Support African Journalists in Curbing Fake News

Sunday Ehigiator

The need for the African Union (AU) to support African Journalists in the fight against fake news in the continent was brought to the fore as discussion continues at the ongoing training for Young African Journalists, organised by the Union of African Journalists (UAJ) in partnership with the Supreme Council for Media Relation holding in Cairo

In his lecture titled, ‘Freedom of the Press in Times of Conflict, and Social Media’, the Deputy Editor-in-chief of Rosal Youssef and a Political Researcher on African Affairs, Ahmed Embaby pointed out that Africa is a target for fake news the Western world, with the agenda to keep the continent underdeveloped and dependent on them.

He said due to this, the AU needs to give massive support to Media organisations to end the monster of fake news and misinformation in the continent, due to its International dimension.

He said, “To effectively fight the scourge of the monster of Fake News and Misinformation, the African Union (AU) must give the Media the support needed to nip the challenge in the bud.

“Africa is the Western world target for fake news and misinformation, hence the need to disabuse it in its entirety. The New Media, especially social media, has been used to promote fake news. Hence, journalists are responsible for providing content that will fight the problem.”

Mr Embaby maintained that conflicts in some African countries and Military coups have brought setbacks to the Continent. He pointed out that apart from terrorism, climate change and economic challenges, the Russia-Ukraine crisis has led to a 40 per cent rise in the price of food items in Africa.