By Seyi Odewale
As the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) prepares for this year’s off-season elections in Edo and Ondo states, the media have been urged to collaborate in fighting against disinformation and misinformation and help promote peaceful elections.
Speakers at a recent webinar on ‘Safeguarding Democracy: The Media and Role of Fact Checking in Peaceful Elections’ organized by Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) as part of the European Union Support to Democratic Governance (EU-SDGN II) project made the charge in Lagos.
The Executive Director of CAPPA, Akinbode Oluwafemi in his welcome remarks, acknowledged the role of media, saying it plays a critical role in how people perceive elections, and whether it is peaceful or not, adding that it is important to highlight the role of the media in disseminating accurate information, to ensure peaceful elections.
According to Oluwafemi, the conversation was coming at a time when the election umpires were preparing for off-cycle elections, and at a time when people began to manipulate public communication, using digital media. He lamented that those materials are sadly finding their way into the mainstream traditional media, causing backlash from the society.”
He, therefore, urged newsmen “to produce factual, authentic and credible information to ensure peaceful elections, and be able to get the right leaders into the office.”
The publisher of BONews Service Ms Blessing Oladunjoye, in her presentation, described disinformation as a human rights issue, saying when dis/misinformation spreads, it can cause harm to a range of human rights issues including the right to free and fair elections.
According to her, “Article 25, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) states that for an election to be free and fair, voters need to have accurate information about the parties, and candidates and trust in democratic institutions.
The BONews Service publisher stressed that the impact of misinformation could be grievous in some instances some other times, it could be minimal, adding that “misinformation can influence voter’s behavior and decision-making. “It can create polarization and social unrest and incorrect information may influence the way that Individuals vote,” she said.
As part of her recommendation, she said media organizations should “invest in fact-checking initiatives and training for journalists, encourage transparency and accountability in media reporting, foster media literacy among the public to discern credible sources from misinformation; and strengthen collaborations among journalists and CSO groups.”
Another participant, who spoke at the webinar, Adesola Ikulajolu, stressed the importance of fact-checking to ensure peaceful elections, adding that “fact-checking gives us leverage to have the right information.”
He highlighted some ways the public could discern and identify misinformation from facts, adding that peddlers of fake news usually leverage the biases of the readers.
Mariya Mariya Shuaibu Suleiman, a journalist with Bayero University Kano (BUK) TV/Radio in Kano State also noted that the citizens have a responsibility to verify the information they consume as some people would prefer to consume misinformation over the truth.
