The rise in contamination of the content of information and abnormalities in the production, distribution and consumption of information pose challenges to the worlds of academics, practitioners, policymakers and the entire community of media consumers. For time immemorial, information has never been free from different forms and tactics of manipulation by individuals and states, yet the current trend is beyond human expectation due to the influence of new information technologies.
People live in the era of infodemic and post-truth courtesy of what Brennen, (2020) called technology affordance that eases deformation. As Horowitz (2018) observed, the value of trust and facts has been compromised in public debates. The level of trust human society enjoys is in decline; as distrust between citizens and government, experts and on-experts, media and audience keeps rising.
The alarming issues about information disorder are the novel abnormalities and their effects on the entirety of the human endeavour most notably in recent elections, climate change and COVID-19 (Cook, et al., 2017, Manalu, Pradekso & Setyabudi, 2018).
The quest for understanding this phenomenon and ways for addressing the effects have attracted the attention of academia and administrative fora. The novel abnormalities transcend the research philosophy of a single discipline, making it an interdisciplinary field. However, Udupa et al., (2020) observed that as a nascent field of interdisciplinary inquiry, information disorder studies have yet to find a coherent framework for theory, definitions, and methods.
Going through the information disorder literature depicts a clear picture of conceptual dilemma. Scholars use different labels for different aspects of information disorder: Fetzer, (2004) false information, Lukasik, Cohn, and Bontcheva, (2015) rumours, Chakraborty, (2017) clickbaits, Korta, (2018) conspiracy theories, Glenski, Weninger, and Volkova, (2018) deceptive news, Ilahi, (2019) hoax news, Zhou, et al., (2019) fake news, Jerit, and Zhao, (2020) misinformation, Broniatowski, et al., (2020), propaganda, Tolosana (2020) deepfakes Chang, Lewandowsky, (2021) disinformation, and Mukherjee, & Coppel, (2021) questionable content.
Among these concepts, misinformation and fake news were the most used concepts based on the Google Search I conducted on 17th Nov. 2021. Misinformation was mentioned with the exact phrase in any part of publication about 238,000 and mentioned in the titles 6,380. Fake news was mentioned with the exact phrase in any part of related publications about 123,000 and mentioned in the titles 13,400.
Fake news is more recognised in the titles of publications compared with misinformation. However, fake news has been identified as a problematic concept weaponised by politicians and other actors to attack truth and the media profession. A similar incidence happened to the concept of propaganda especially during the World wars (Romarheim, 2005).
Scholars now discourage the use of fake news. That may be one of the reasons for the decline in the use of the concept; in 2019 for instance, about 2,700 articles published on Goggle Scholar used fake news in their titles but the number dropped to 1,860 as of Nov. 2021, while the use of misinformation in titles rises from 514 in 2019 to 1,150 as in Nov. 2021.
To avoid fragmentation and grasp the complexity of the information disorder problem, we need to agree on a common vocabulary and typologies. When trying to tackle a multidimensional problem we need to be able to clearly define it (Christopoulou, 2018).
One of the most widely cited works on conceptual definitions and taxonomies of the information disorder is written by Claire Wardle and Hossein Derakhshan title, Information Disorder: Toward an interdisciplinary framework for research and policymaking and other works by Claire Wardle alone.
Wardle and Derekhshan’s study sets a new trend by giving an inclusive concept “information disorder” that explains the whole ecosystem of polluted information. The work also proposed taxonomies of the information disorder’s elements and tactics used by agents of information disorder.
Therefore, guided by critical research inquiry, this paper identified some gaps in the definitions, taxonomies, and elements given by Wardle and Derekhshan. The paper gathered information from previous studies and interrogate them with the aim of setting research agenda that would lead to the development of a common epistemological ground that will provide common concepts, definitions, taxonomies, methods, models, and theories for the study of information disorder.
Information is a major defining product or factor voters use in making decisions during elections. However, the rise of technology and the ability to rapidly share information through several mediums and platforms has propelled the issue of information disorder commonly referred to as ‘fake news’ to the forefront of global discussions.
Information disorder is generally seen as any form of misinformation or disinformation. Most scholars define misinformation as the unintentional sharing of false information with no intention to cause harm whereas disinformation constitutes the deliberate sharing of false information with the intention to cause harm (Karlova & Fisher, 2012; Wardle & Derakshan, 2017; Thorson & Sheble, 2017). According to Maweu (2019) “Whatever we call it, propaganda, disinformation and misinformation is as old as mankind and has only been systematically blown to almost uncontrollable levels by the advent of digital media” (p.63).
Social media has emerged as one of the central areas through which voters get information but has also been identified to be a perfect platform or breeding ground for misinformation or disinformation and conspiracy narratives. Social media platforms and the many online platforms have presented voters with the challenge of encountering an enormous amount of information online, including false information. According to Chakrabarti (2018), the effects of information disorder are heightened especially because of the power of social media. The way this works is that ordinary citizens can now be part of the mass media space by sharing news immediately, journalists also tend to use the social media space as a sourcing mechanism to dig for news. The problem that this creates is that it hampers people’s ability to discern truth and make discerning decisions on critical issues including on voting decisions.
The period before, during and after elections appear to be periods usually characterised by the rise in misinformation and disinformation particularly about candidates and policies, thus posing a major developmental challenge as a result of its potential to affect the credibility of elections and the sanctity of the competitive nature of elections as some parties seek to gain undue advantage.
The 2020 elections in Ghana were unique in more than one way. It was the first time that a one-term president (former president John Mahama of the National Democratic Congress, NDC) was seeking to come back to office. Also, the incumbent president Nana Akufo-Addo (of the New Patriotic Party, NPP) was seeking re-election but it was his second time facing the opposition candidate John Dramani Mahama in an electoral contest. The historical nature of the elections heightened the stakes thereby providing the fertile ground for a possible trend or propagation of information disorder.
As Ghana moves to consolidate its democracy, research involving information disorder is necessary to attempt to address the ways in which the public sphere is polluted particularly during elections. There is no doubt that if this is not addressed it has the potential to mar the democratic record of Ghana. Though the notion of information disorder is not new as observed by Maweu (2019), it’s current upsurge and lack of systematic research in this area makes this study significant. This report comprehensively analyses information disorder in Ghana before, during and after the 2020 elections.
Information disorder is increasingly distorting economic and political spaces across the world. Nigeria’s economic policies are among the most highly criticized policies in Africa and this is partly because they are policies in and on the largest economy in the continent. This situation has implications for the country’s political space because the social and political protests against regimes are often due to the poor level of their respective economic performances. The aim of the study, therefore, is to examine the determinants of information disorder within the context of two economic policies in Nigeria. A qualitative content analysis approach is utilized to achieve the objective of the study. The standard of evaluation of what economic policies ought to be is the position of the country’s constitution on how the economy should be run. A descriptive and inferential analysis was carried out on the data obtained through content analysis. The conclusion of the study is that already held views by the public with regards to how an economy should be run and the views of the opposition party against the ideological path of the country’s economy are the two main factors accounting for how much information disorder the country experiences about its economy. The study, therefore, recommends that existing regulatory authorities should make clear the ideological position of the country to the public well enough to clear the air about the direction of its economic policies at any time.
Nigerian journalism has encountered and continues to confront many threats, majority of them exogenous; repression by colonial and post colonial administrations, clampdown by military regimes, draconian and repressive decrees and codes, attacks on facilities, prevention of circulation and closures, intimidation, imprisonment and worse of all – murder. The Nigerian news media however found ingenious ways to overcome these challenges or work around them. The nationalist press contributed significantly to securing the country’s independence from Britain and put successive democratic administrations in check. The industry also served as a bother for military administrations and worked in tandem with the civil society to return democratic rule to Nigeria in 1999, after years of incessant military coups and take-overs which spanned over three decades. Unfortunately, this industry that has withstood such enormous trials without wavering may be brought down by a more insidious endogenous challenge that many have identified but do not significantly appreciate; information disorder. Information disorder embodies all the various ways by which the integrity of published information is compromised. Classified broadly into disinformation, misinformation and malinformation (based on intent and harm-caused), information disorder, which was perceived as the merchandise of unprofessional and ‘emergency journalists’ and bloggers is now becoming the Achilles’ heel of the Nigerian news media. Using a mixed-method approach (content analysis, interview and survey) and guided by attention economy and political economic approach to media management theories, this study argues that the mainstream media may lose the trust of their audiences while political actors will use information disorder to justify their renewed efforts to gag the media. The study ends by recommending that news media organisations in Nigeria re-design their management models so that they can remain competitive without losing the integrity that has preserved the news media in the country.
It seems one of the havens of information disorder is confined within the domain of recurring cases of abduction of school children in the Nigerian academic institutions. The seeming tacit approach of the Nigerian government towards such malady and the consequent societal agitations for a restructured security architecture of the country tend to precipitate two prong apprehensions: whether the government is deliberately under-informing Nigerians about the intensity of insecurities in the country or whether the societal transformations triggered by the increased social media exposures has transferred the duty of honest information reportage to the society.
Reporting through the Financial Times about government dishonest communication style in respect to the covid-19 pandemic, Kelly (2020) held that so far, the tendency of the government has been to try to pretend everything was under control when it’s not. Kelly’s reports highlights dishonesty in government information system using the example of how most government communicated the incidence of COVID-19 pandemic as a base to elaborate the inherent dishonesty in most of government information system. Kelly speculated that the need to give the masses hope in uneasy times seem to pose a strong bait to malign information by government and wondered if the lack of communication skills among the leaders was not the real reason that fuel information dishonesty in the public-sector runed activities. Kelly exemplified in specific terms how President Trump and his administration repeatedly lied about the COVID-19 virus in a much more obvious and concerning way than the British government.
Aside Kelly reviews, it is yet to be determined whether information dishonesty is a convention that is sacrosanct among governments of the world or an inherent retainership inducement of leadership. In Kelly’s writing “There’s a fine line to be trodden between delivering simple, upbeat messages, and not telling the truth.”
Elections, according to Robert A. Pastor, ‘are both the supreme political act and a complicated administrative exercise at the heart of democracy. Pastor suggests that democracy is easily compromised where the state structure is viscerally weakened to points of illegitimacy while its bureaucratic capacity becomes bedraggled as is the case in fragile and illiberal democracies like Nigeria. The challenges facing such democracies have been heightened in recent times with the rise of new media and their use as platforms for creating ‘information disorder’ as a way of affecting political behaviour and choices.
Information disorder is categorized into three conceptual frameworks:
Misinformation: Information that is false, but not created with the intention of causing harm.
Disinformation: Information that is false and deliberately created to harm a person, social group, organization, or country.
Malinformation: Information that is based on reality, used to inflict harm on a person, organization, or country.
Information disorder presents a unique challenge for public discourse and information flow and communication practices – before, during, and after election cycles on a global scale. Fact-checking organizations and media houses have stepped up to counter and debunk such information disorder products and narratives. An example of such an effort is Dubawa.
This study analyzes and studies the typologies present in the information disorder ecosystem studied by Dubawa during the Edo and Ondo Gubernatorial elections held on September 19th and October 10th, 2020.
The report identified that most of the misinformation and disinformation targeted at the 2020 Edo and Ondo gubernatorial elections were executed through diverse social media platforms two months to the election day. Also notable, was the gradual increase in the number of misinformation “claims” prior to the election which reached its peak on the day of the election.
This report also identified key platforms that were used to share mis/disinformation, as well as key characters (i.e., claimants) who held and promoted these claims. Given the dynamic nature of information disorder, the report has categorized these claims into types and established a correlation with the dates (before, after, and on election day), verdicts.
The impact of media technology on democracy is coming under increased scrutiny all over the world. New media’s disruption of an existing order that is characterized by the rise of social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google, made it possible for more people to engage in the political process. However, the disruption has also created an avenue for a different type of engagement; online manipulation of narratives on a massive scale. Nefarious actors have devised strategies to turn these networks into platforms for spreading falsehoods, untruths, misinformation and outright lies, in order to achieve their aims. It has also opened up a new type of international conflict, evident in numerous accusations and counter accusations of cyber interferences between the United States of America and the Republic of Russia. There is therefore a need to interrogate how this emerging phenomenon interacts with the bedrock of democratic process, especially elections.
Polarising and unreliable information by feckless actors and individuals make it difficult, if not impossible for citizens to form a good political judgment on which they can base their decisions about political participation and this has played out across the West African sub region. Budding, but extremely fragile democracies such as Nigeria face significant challenges in responding to the divisiveness and message manipulations of social network platforms, particularly during elections. This study looks into two gubernatorial elections (Edo, Ondo) recently held in Nigeria, where various actors used social networks to feed the electorate misinformation and disinformation, with a view to shaping their voting behaviour.
Fake news, disinformation, misinformation and malinformation have become of serious concern in the Nigeria media space. Also caught in the web of this information disorder are both the new and conventional media. (Apuke & Omar, 2020; Ojebode, 2018). It has been observed that the prevalence of information disorder in Nigeria can be adduced to lack of fact-checking skills among media handlers. Cable 2019 cited in Raji 2020, however, said the establishment of Dubawa and other fact-checking organisations in Nigeria and in Africa at large, have brought positive results in efforts to address the problem of information disorder. Despite collaboration between fact-checking organisations and media houses on how to address the information disorder in the information ecosystem, many young people and students, including those studying journalism are accused of sharing fake news, disinformation, misinformation and malinformation pieces.
The mixed-method research recently conducted by Ilesanmi (2021) to examine the level of fact- checking competence among journalism lecturers in Ondo State, Nigeria revealed that fact-checking competence among journalism lecturers was very low. Majority of the lecturers use Google to confirm the genuineness of information. Almost all of them do not know how to use other modern fact-checking tools while majority of them still consider normal news gathering skills as modern fact-checking skills.
Ilesanmi (2021) also reported that modern fact-checking skills are not being taught in Nigerian tertiary institutions. Furthermore, it was revealed in his study that years of service of the lecturers have positive association with fact-checking competence. In other words, the more years the lecturers spend in academia, the more their fact-checking competence increases.
Additionally, it was revealed that the majority of journalism lecturers in Nigeria have not had any fact-checking training prior to the research. To worsen this, there was no plan by the institutions to organise future training on fact-checking competence for the lecturers, who are often saddled with the responsibility of training journalists in the country.
The findings of Ilesanmi (2021) have revealed that tertiary institutions in Nigeria are not equipped materially and in terms of personnel to cater for fact-checking requirements that are in demand in modern day journalism practice. The study has shown that journalists are ill-equipped in terms of fact-checking competence because their training years in the tertiary institutions are devoid of the right skills and knowledge needed to combat fake news, misinformation, disinformation and mal-information. In view of this dearth of fact-checking competence among journalism teachers in tertiary institutions in Nigeria, this paper presents strategies that can be adopted to fill this gap
Time to deepen collaboration
There have been concerns on the lacuna between the academia and the industry in Nigeria. Thishas been attributed to several failures in the country, especially in terms of providing solutions to several issues in the country (Atueyi, 2016). Unfortunately, the same gap is observed between Nigerian institutions and departments offering journalism and media studies as courses and in the media industry.
Sequel to this, there is a need for journalism departments and institutions offering fact-checking as a course to collaborate with fact-checking organisations, like Dubawa, to enhance the competence and skills of both journalism lecturers and students. This will go a long way to equip the two groups with the relevant skills needed to verify information and address the inadequacies of the information ecosystem in Nigeria.
This form of collaboration has been reported between Dubawa and news media organisations, tech firms and bloggers to curb the unhindered spread of fake news in Nigeria with attendant positive results (Raji, 2020). With this positive report, such collaboration should be extended to teachers and students of journalism in tertiary institutions in Nigeria, since they create the breeding ground for journalists. According to Gaye (2021), media literacy to detect fake information must not be narrowed or widened. This will empower more people to develop competence in information verification, especially the young adults.
Re-brewing the old wine
In a similar vein, there is no gainsaying that there is a need for training and retraining of journalism teachers. The high level of fact-checking incompetence among them can be attributed to the fact that modern fact-checking is novel and has just began to gain popularity (Daniel & Flamini, 2018; Raji, 2020). The proliferation of fake news can be attributed to the emergence and increase in social media use (Apuke & Omar, 2020).
Therefore, journalism teachers need to be trained and retrained in the use of modern fact-checking tools, such as reverse image search, photo forensics, demonstrator, noise analysis, cheapfakes and deepfakes. Others are TinyEye, Way back Machine, Invid, video verifier and Wikimapia. The teachers in particular can therefore transfer the knowledge to their students. This form of training can only be possible if the institutions collaborate with fact-checking agencies like Dubawa.
More of “Dubawa”
There is a need for the establishment of more fact-checking organisations in Nigeria. This will help to increase information and media competence, expose students and journalists to more opportunities to learn fact-checking skills. Dubawa Fellowship was established “to foster a culture of fact-checking in newsrooms and hopefully encourage newsrooms to have fact-checking desks” (Premium Times, 2019). In a similar vein, Africa Check and Ghanafact and other agencies have been established to enhance media literacy and fact-checking competence in a bid to curb the spread of fake news and misinformation.
In Nigeria, Folarin (2020) noted that fact-checking organisations have made considerate investment in capacity building initiatives for journalists, researchers, and students in the area of building fact-checking, verification skills and promotion of digital and media literacy as a way of flattening the dis-misinformation curve in the country.
Beyond the human process of verification, many organisations are already deploying automated systems to maximize impact and get better results. Therefore, more of these organisations will boost media literacy in the country and consequently reduce the level of information disorder.
Re-Engineering the Curriculum
Just like several studies, Ilesanmi (2021) has provided evidence on the need to update journalism curricula among institutions in Nigeria. Many tertiary institutions offering journalism as a course still teach the basic news writing skills with the belief that they are impacting the students with fact-checking knowledge. As of June 2020, the only real elements of media or news literacy teaching that occur in tertiary institutions in Nigeria was when the few fact-checking organisations visited few schools as outside speakers (Cunliffe-Jones, P et al, 2021).
Ilesanmi (2021) has shown that the lecturers mainly use Google to verify information and this is also found among students as well (Donovan & Rapp, 2020; Wineburg & McGrew, 2017). The students usually accept information on the surface value but rarely confirm the genuineness of information before they share on social media, contributing to the spread of fake news (Brodsky, Brooks & Scimeca, 2021).
Green (2019) asserts that going by the prevalence of many false claims on social media, skills in verification and fact-checking should be a core part of any curriculum for aspiring journalists. He added that these skills need to go beyond simply telling audiences whether the content is true or not and expatiate more on accuracy and trustworthiness
Also, a research on the survey of students’ media literacy skills in Nigerian universities conducted by Woju et al (2019) showed that majority of the students who have acquired rudimentary computer and internet knowledge and skills did not have substantial critical understanding and competence/skills as well as communication abilities required for effective and efficient professional practices in the current digitized platforms. Therefore, updating the journalism curriculum will be an appropriate and timely intervention.
Raising the Bar
With collaboration, retraining and establishment of more fact-checking agencies, it is considered necessary to raise the requirements for employing or recruiting journalism lecturers. It is important for institutions to set fact-checking competence as part of requirements to employ journalism teachers. This will spur upcoming academics in this line to acquire such skills. This will also ensure that journalism educators teaching students are competent and knowledgeable to impact fact-checking knowledge on the students.
Don’t Despise Little Beginning
Taking fact-checking skills as far down as to junior secondary schools will help the students to grow and develop with the skills. Computer operation is taught from nursery schools up to the university level in Nigeria. Cunliffe-Jones et al (2021) had earlier noted that the Nigerian school curriculum, recently approved for junior and senior secondary schools, featured as of June 2020 limited teaching of ICT/computer including use of the Internet and search engines and data processing, but no other elements of broad media literacy. Integrating fact-checking competence into curriculum for early schools will help the spread of wider media literacy in Nigeria.
Worthy of commendation in this regard is Dubawa’s Week For Truth during which trained volunteers took the gospel of media and literacy information as well as basic verification and critical thinking skills to many secondary schools across all five Anglophone West African countries Dubawa operates in – Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and The Gambia.
Conclusion
There is no gainsaying that more efforts still need to be put into improving fact-checking skills and competence among student journalists and their teachers. This paper reviewed the latest research by Ilesanmi (2021) and provided strategies to improve fact-checking skills in Nigerian higher institutions. It is believed that establishment of more fact-checking agencies, collaboration between academia and fact-checking organisations, training and retraining of journalism lecturers as well as taking fact-checking skills to secondary schools will enhance wider spread of media literacy and reduce information disorder in Nigeria.
References
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Brodsky, J.E., Brooks, P.J., Scimeca, D. et al. (2021) Improving college students’ fact-checking strategies through lateral reading instruction in a general education civics course. Cogn. Research6, 23 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-021-00291-4
Cunliffe-Jones, P. et al. (2021). The State of Media Literacy In Sub-Saharan Africa 2020 and a Theory of Misinformation Literacy, pp. 5–96, in Misinformation Policy In Sub-Saharan Africa: From Laws and Regulations to Media Literacy. London: University of Westminster Press. DOI: https:// doi.org/10.16997/book53.a. License: C-BY-NC-ND 4.0
Donovan, A. M., & Rapp, D. N. (2020). Look it up: Online search reduces the problematic effects of exposures to inaccuracies. Memory and Cognition, 48(7), 1128-1145. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-020-01047-z
Ilesanmi, S. (2021). Assessing Fact-checking Competence of Journalism Lecturers in Ondo State Tertiary Institutions, Dubawa, retrieved from https://idac.dubawa.org/assessing-fact-checking-competence-of-journalism-lecturers-in-ondo-state-tertiary-institutions/
McGrew S, Breakstone J., Ortega T., Smith M., and Wineburg S. (2018). Can students evaluate online sources? Learning from assessments of civic online reasoning. Theory & Research in Social Education. 46(2):165–193. doi: 10.1080/00933104.2017.1416320.
Ojebode, A. (2018). Fake news, hate speech and the 2019 general elections: the redemptive role of the Nigerian media. Being the text of the 13th annual public lecture of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN)
Premium Times (2019). “Nigeria’s Foremost Fact-Checking Project, Dubawa, To Host Fellows For Four-Day Training”. https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/more-news/327573-nigerias-foremost-fact-checking-project-dubawa-to-host-fellows-for-four-day-training.html
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Woju, J., O, Chukwu, C., O., Ugwuoke, J., C., Ugwulor-Onyinyechi C., C and Ononuju Nwankiti, C. (2019). A Survey of Student’s Media Literacy Skills in Nigerian Universities. Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 14: 5365-5373. doi: 10.36478/jeasci.2019.5365.5373
Information management is key to democracy. It is a major tool of governance in all societies. It is “the core element that drives the digital society, information is the key to how the digital society adds value and redistributes power” (Park, 2017). The popular maxim stating that “information is power” by Park, established the extent of the influence of information management for political control and influence of public opinion. In an attempt to gain power, politicians around the world including Nigeria place a premium on information management to achieve their cause(s). In the course of doing this, the issue of propaganda became prominent with the use of the same information as a tool to gain prominence. In an attempt to dominate the information flow, politicians manipulate content to achieve a specific agenda. Stakeholders have expressed worry over the spread of false information during the political process. It is in the realization of this goal that different measures are suggested and adopted to address the challenge of political disinformation. One of the measures gaining popularity in Nigeria is fact-checking.
Post 2019 election observers’ and media organisations’ reports in Nigeria documented evidence of election campaigns being heated up by fake news, video documentaries that outline falsehoods aired on television before moving to the social media. Viral tweets saw distrust ahead of the election as misleading descriptions attached to pictures were not taken in Nigeria.
Neither side of Nigeria’s political parties is innocent of political disinformation. The two major Nigeria political parties ran media operations to disseminate misinformation and fake news the moment the ban on political campaigning was lifted. The social media and other news media reported how President Buhari’s Special Adviser posted a video on Twitter which showed his supporters at a big rally when in reality the images were from a religious gathering the year before (the election). A photo of a major road construction was also posted and being cited as an example of the president’s public works. Pictures of the public works were made in Rwanda. He also narrated how a tweet accused Abubakar Atiku of sharing food and money during his campaign. The tweet came with a photo of food packs with money attached and a caption saying: “Keep them in poverty, then give them handouts. Atiku in Sokoto yesterday.” This is evidence of how fake news has become ingrained in Nigeria’s political culture.
Worthy to be noted was a video that went viral, claiming Governor Uzodinma’s Convoy was attacked by unknown gunmen. Nonetheless, “the claim that Governor Hope Uzodinma’s convoy was attacked was false. The video used to paint the false narrative was taken out of its original context. The actual incident took place in Kenya last year (2020) and not in Nigeria” (Jonathan, 2021).
It is evident that much more misleading political disinformation of this nature would have been consumed by electorates unaware of the actual story, if not for verifications reported by fact-checking organizations.
Disinformation and Political Process
Kandel (2020) viewed information disorder as “Distorting facts, manipulating information, sharing information without understanding the consequences, vilifying others’ beliefs and faiths, and running behind propaganda and fake news with or without vested interest in some of the disorders.”
Eventually, more studies around information disorder opened up newer ways to look at the issue. Wardle and Derakhsha (2017) categorized information disorder into three; disinformation, misinformation and malinformation. Their conceptual framework “distinguished messages that are true from those that are false, and messages that are created, produced or distributed by “agents” who intend to do harm from those that are not.”
The effects of political disinformation in Nigeria as observed by Pate (2019) was the escalating herder-farmer communal clashes in parts of the country which was attributed to misinformation, untruth and political propaganda. The farmer-herder conflict was fundamentally a land-use contest but was aggravated recently by a misrepresented information tweet which turned the conflict into a serious security challenge in South-Western Nigeria leading to the loss of lives and properties.
In December, 2020, it was circulated that Fatai Aborede, a politician and farmer was killed by Fulani herdsmen while returning from his farm in Igangan, a community that has cases of killings and kidnappings. The death of Fatai led Agitator Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho to visit the community to evict Salihu Abdulkadir, the Sarkin Fulani, claiming that he was responsible for the killing and kidnapping of members of the community, a claim which was widely condemned. Igboho thereafter moved to Ogun State to evict the Fulanis resulting in attacks and reprisal attacks leading to loss of lives and property.
The conflict in Ogun State was aggravated by a political disinformation tweet of a misrepresented picture of a man holding a burnt baby with a description that the picture was a casualty from the Igangan crisis.
Political disinformation is harmful and injurious to the integrity of patriotic citizens because it turns their personal issues to sensitive national or international issues. Bishop David Oyedepo, the Founder of The Living Faith Church also known as Winners’ Chapel, was involved in an international scene January, 2020 when it was reported by a print media that the United State of America Embassy in Nigeria rejected his application for the renewal of his visa. It was a deliberate attempt to use the religious festive period and the beginning of a new fiscal year to drag the nation into political and religious conflict by creating a picture of misleading application rejection narrative to draw empathy from the Bishop’s faithfuls. It was evident that his broadcast on the “State of the Nation” which always addresses national topical issues, democracy and governance must have figured him out. A timely tweet by the US Embassy in Nigeria saved the situation and an additional statement by the Chairman, Editorial and Media Board of Winners Chapel, Prof. Sheriff Folarin debunked the story.
Similarly, Brennen (2017) affirms the injurious effect of misinformation by saying “once made available on social media platforms, fake news goes viral. Because of the sensation generated by such misinformation, many people became voluntary or involuntary carriers of the information, many of this distorted information often outperform genuine traditional sources of information.” (p. 179). It is no longer news that the Nigerian government accused Twitter for arousing the tension of the EndSARS protest in 2020 which led to the suspension of Twitter operations in Nigeria after it deleted President Buhari’s tweet because it breaches the social media’s organizational policy. This political narrative generated a misleading tweet that went viral, claiming that Twitter is desiring to mend things with the Nigerian government, as soon as the fake tweet goes online. Blogs, one of which was the Nairaland that had more than 3 million followers circulated the tweet without verifying the genuineness and source of the tweet.
Fact-Checking Purveyors of Political Disinformation
However, suggested solutions to potential political disinformation from a number of different perspectives include technological, social, media-centric, educational and regulatory. Stiftung (2020) said “Two main strategies (which have proven successful so far) are currently used at the global level to prevent and combat the spread of fake news (political disinformation) and its use for political manipulation: fact-checking and media literacy.”
Technological development has greatly affected and caused changes in modern ways of communication; these changes have affected societies while the media have also become a force to reckon with because of novel efforts to check disinformation. This is the reason “media literacy is an extremely important concept to understand the functioning and policies of media institutes to ensure that individuals are not exposed to manipulative effects of media production and to be able to analyze media content accurately.” (Akmesa, 2020).
Therefore, to be elected means politicians have to develop the skillful use of media to enable them get their messages across. The need by politicians to ensure the electorates receive and comprehend the content of their political statements, employ the service of experts in social media, marketing, advertising, television and other media fields to convey their messages to voters. Acquiring knowledge of media literacy is critically important and would need to be taught just as management is part of most courses, to enable future voters and leaders to learn to understand the role and influence of the media in the political process.
Technology has made it easy for everyone to create media and the irony is that no one can tell who created what message, why it was created and its credibility. This makes media literacy very tricky. Notwithstanding, media literacy helps the public to think critically, become a smart consumer of information, recognize one’s point of view, and understand the author’s goal.
Fact-Checking as Solution to Political Disinformation
Adhikari (2021) said “fact checking has developed into a profession and a field of its own” and “is the process by which someone verifies whether a piece of information is true or not or better said, whether a piece of information is backed by verifiable facts or not.” and “publishing fact checked information has been shown generally to have a positive effect in terms of correcting inaccurate Information” (Tompkins 2020). Fact checking organizations can now verify pictorial claims and give detailed information like the date, time and where a photograph was taken.
It is salutary that the fact-check profession has developed technologies to verify the authenticity and genuineness of videos. The courts accept videos tendered as evidence; for this reason video clips are being manipulated, doctored and circulated, while also using fact-check technology, to verify video sources are revealed. The video clip circulated on social media by the Nigeria President Adviser on Social Media showing a large crowd at a big rally, which was claimed to be of party supporters, was revealed to be images from a religious gathering in Jigawa State organised a year before the 2019 elections.
Google has developed fact-check tools such as the explorer, markup tool and APIs on its fact-check dedicated site where a user can visit to verify claims from a web about a topic or a person. Apart from sites created by fact-check organisations where a user can submit a claim to be fact-checked, there are various kinds of browsers, plugins and apps for detecting false information.
Credibility of fact-check
To support the credibility of fact-checking, Grabmeier, (2021) said “fact-checking works to reduce false beliefs across the globe.” He made this statement after a study conducted by Wood and Porter (2021) proved that fact-checking worked with little variation in Argentina, Nigeria, South Africa and the United Kingdom, and the positive effects were detectable within two weeks.
Wood (2021) added, “When we started doing Misinformation (information disorder) work about five years ago, it was the consensus that correcting misinformation wasn’t just ineffective, but that it was aggravating the problem and making people more entrenched in their false beliefs.” But “we found no evidence of that in these four countries. What we did find was that fact checking can be a very effective tool against misinformation.”
In the study, 2000 respondents were sampled in each of the four countries, one-half received only the misinformation, while the other half received misinformation followed by the correct version of the information fact checked by the local fact checking organization. The respondents were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 about the degree of their belief in the false information.
When the results of the two groups were compared, the group that received misinformation and fact check produced more accurate belief, while misinformation didn’t always lead to less accurate beliefs. The findings show that fact checks increase factual accuracy by 0.59 points on the five point scale. Misinformation decreased factual accuracy by less than 0.07 on the same scale.
The researchers returned two weeks later to three countries where the study was conducted and asked the sampled population “How much they believed the false statements they evaluated earlier. Results showed that the positive effects of fact checking were still robust two weeks later” (Grabmeier, 2021).
Misinformation can sway opinion; that is why it is necessary to fact-check statements, information or claim, especally the one with political inclinations because opinion can largely inform actions and if actions are based on false information, thereby making wrong decisions inevitable. These decisions can lead to unintended consequences. It is, therefore, to be noted that once political misinformation is on a social media platform, it could negatively impact the opinion of the electorate or could go viral and shape the outcome of an election.
Conclusion
Research has pointed at fact-checking as one of the potential tools to combating the challenges of misinformation. It promotes accountability, challenges political misinformation by revealing the (in)accurate aspects of politicians’ campaign messages aimed at influencing voters’ decisions. The focus on fact-checking as an antidote to political disinformation has exposed the strategies of propaganda adopted by politicians to score cheap political points. This article has shown that manipulated pictures, videos and false claims that had in the past been used by politicians to cause commotion, breakdown of law and order, destruction of lives and properties, and harmed and caused injury to the integrity of patriotic citizens can now be subjected to verification techniques of fact-check to reveal with factual accuracy the intent behind it.
Finally, other approaches of combating political disinformation are now complemented by social, media-centric, regulatory and media literacy solutions. This had led to an increase in the number of fact-checking organisations being established in Nigeria. Dubawa, a fact checking platform, incorporated in 2014, is breaking new grounds in institutionalizing fact checking. Dubawa fact checks and reports on its website in three major Nigerian Languages including Kanuri, has spread its branches to some West African countries. It has run many programmes and collaborated with organizations aimed at developing leagues of fact-checkers who will counter political disinformation at scale.
Baker, F. (2019). The role of media in politics/elections: Helping students understand media’s influence. Retrieved 15/10/21. wwwn frankwbaker.com/nlc/media-politics
Park, S. (2017) Information is Power Retrieved October 22, 2021, https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/978-1-137-59332-0_8
Pate, U. A et al (2019.) The impact of fake news and the emerging post-truth. political era Nigerian polity: A reviews literature Retrieved on 15th october, 2021. www.ideas.respec.org/a/rfa/smcjnl/v7y2019i1p21-29 html
Protecting ourselves from fake news : Fact checkers and their limitations, Retrieved 15/10/21 www.cits.ucbs.edu/fake-news/potecting-ourselves-fact.
Information disorder is a growing concern in the global information ecosystem. Advances in technologies have liberalised information access and dissemination, enabling anyone with relevant communication facilities to publish varied forms of communication contents to a global audience. Hence, information dissemination to mass and diverse audiences is no longer the exclusive preserve of conventional mass media which have the supportive framework to check information accuracy in an often rigorous editorial process. A major shortcoming of this liberalisation of communication space is the increasing free flow of false information in the public space. This has given rise to fact-checking efforts in an attempt to stem the flow of false information through painstaking verification of public claims, with expectation of greater vigilance among media audiences.
In this study, we examine public awareness of misinformation in the media and the potential impact of fact-checking organisations in combating spread of misinformation. To this end, we developed four key research objectives focusing on the level of audience awareness of misinformation in the public space; their trust in the media; tendencies to verify media information; and perceived influence of fact-checking efforts in the West African sub-region. We adopted the online survey research method using a google form designed questionnaire shared among potential respondents. We adopted a non-probability sampling method to invite potential respondents from Nigeria, Ghana, and Sierra Leone to fill. A total of 508 respondents participated in the survey and the data generated were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively.
The study finds that respondents rely more on online news portals for information with many experiencing false information in varied forms on their preferred platforms; while rating Facebook and WhatsApp as leading platforms for promotion of false information. Respondents generally reported a high tendency in verifying information. Despite the majority experiencing false information on their preferred media platforms, many still trusted their choice media and the information therein. About 95% claimed they often verify information which they received on social media but less than half agreed to verifying information from social media platforms that have previously misled them. Respondents thus rated social media platforms, blogs, and online news portals, low in trust compared to traditional media. Awareness of fact-checking organisations and utilisation of their services was low among respondents but there was high appreciation of fact-checking activities.
Respondents’ level of trust in mainstream media and fact-checking organisations is encouraging. These are alternative verification platforms that should be equipped and strengthened by stakeholders, including donors, governments, fact-checking organisations and technology companies to help sanitise the public space from information pollution. Although this study notes the positive influence of fact-checking organisations on the ability of the media audience to cope with misinformation, fact-checkers must work harder to improve on this feat.
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Introduction
Communication is central to the survival of human beings and other living organisms in the world and it has played a vital role in human civilisation. Turcilo & Obrenovic (2020) observed that the challenges and manipulative use of communication had also plunged nations into wars. This made communication a catalyst to human existence, illustrated by the popular saying that “man cannot not communicate”. It is with the realisation of this that the society ties development to communication. Extensive research (e.g: Encyclopedia, 2020; Bro, 2013; Neuberger, Nuernbergk & Langenoh, 2019; Örebro, 2002; Stroobant, Van den Bogaert & Raeymaeckers, 2019) has been conducted to establish the connection between communication and other components of the society. The society places a premium on communication in the socialisation process, making all stakeholders to integrate this to the attainment of the mission and vision of organisations around the world. Individuals, family, groups, local, national and international institutions consider information as an integral part of their existence. These stakeholders have invested in efforts to understand the information ecosystem in order to maximise its benefits and prevent challenges that always result from inadequate or poor communication.
The constant evolution of society and its attendant technological advancement have become a recurring decimal. The disruptive nature of digital technology has further exposed the latent power of communication and its adoption for positive and negative purposes. In an attempt to control human minds to achieve specific objectives, the manipulation of information flow has now become the order of the day (Abubakar, 2015). Information pollution has permeated governance, politics, economy, religion, education, health and other sectors of the society.
Contemporary issues around the world today are often accompanied by conspiracy theories. For instance, the Covid-19 pandemic and the US 2020 presidential election were tainted with disinformation and misinformation (Adeniran, 2020a; Adeniran, 2020b; Mantas, 2020). Africa, with its peculiar development challenges, has its fair share of issues of information pollution. Many issues in Africa with great impact on the respective countries have been linked to information disorder. Challenges relating to elections, economy, health, governance and other sectors in the continent are difficult to address owing to the state of confusion arising from the avalanche of disinformation and misinformation about these phenomena. (Folarin, 2020; Masters, 2020; Pauwels, 2020; Claire & Hossein, 2017)
Just as many African countries are ravaged by wars and diseases, with the proliferation of arms, information pollution in the continent can be likened to experience with “Weapon of Mass Destruction” and Covid-19 pandemic (Masters, 2020; van der Linden, Roozenbeek & Compton 2020; Teyit English & Tandans Data Science Consulting, 2020 Towers-Clark, 2019; Ireton & Posetti 2018). The widespread disinformation and misinformation cutting across all barriers and without borders has popularised the concept of Infodemic. The World Health Organisation (2020) explained the concept as “an overabundance of information – some accurate and some not – that makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it.”
As the world continues to search for vaccines and potent drugs to prevent and treat Covid-19 disease (Ricard & Thibault, 2020; Saey 2020), stakeholders are also searching for solution on how disinformation and misinformation will not frustrate any success that will be recorded in this respect, as experienced in the outbreak, spread, and management of the novel coronavirus (Teyit English & Tandans Data Science Consulting). This scenario applies to all other aspects of engagements in the society.
Several studies have investigated information disorder around the world. Among these is one by Tayit, an independent fact-checking organisation in Turkey, in conjunction with Tandans Data Science Consulting. The study (Tayit & Tandans, 2020) provides insights into issues around false information. Though Tayit’s study focused on Covid-19 misinformation and potential impact on the information ecosystem in Turkey, it provides the perspectives and clues to interrogate the broader information disorder ecosystem in the African context. Improving media literacy is fast becoming the go-to antidote for combating the pollution within the information ecosystem.
As part of its efforts in improving media literacy to combat the challenges of disinformation and misinformation in the information ecosystem, Dubawa, an indigineous fact-checking organisation, instituted a research-driven project, the Information Disorder Analysis Centre (IDAC) aimed at providing a platform for the dissemination of research findings that dissect issues around information disorder. For six months, the 2020 Dubawa fact-checking research fellows examined issues around the information disorder ecosystem in West Africa.
In furtherance of the fellowship programme, the 2020 Dubawa research fellows embarked on this research project to understand public understanding of misinformation in the public space, and the relevance and utilisation of fact-checking services in combating misinformation. The research fellows were drawn from Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone.
Research Objectives
The study thus sought to understand the West African information ecosystem through the following key objectives that guided the study.
To find out the respondents’ level of awareness on misinformation in public space.
To examine the extent to which audiences verify information from the media in West Africa.
To examine the level to which respondents trust the media.
To assess the perceived influence of fact-checking on audience ability to cope with misinformation.
Method
This study adopts quantitative and qualitative research methods using online surveys with a Google form designed questionnaire shared among potential respondents. The desirability of this approach is underscored by its ability to elicit data from a large number of respondents in an era of social distancing as necessitated by the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic.
This research study targeted smart-phone users in West-African countries where Dubawa currently operates – Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra-Leone. We limited potential participants to smartphone users within the region due to the adoption of the online survey method. The rationale was to reach respondents through smartphones considered to be the most effective means to share the questionnaire, thus limiting physical contacts.
The questionnaire included open and closed-ended questions. The questionnaire link was widely shared online, via e-mails, social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram as well as personal WhatsApp contacts and groups. Respondents were invited to click on the link and fill the questionnaire. Participation was voluntary and responses were accepted over a 4-week period from Monday, November 9 to Sunday, December 6, 2020. Over this period, we shared the link repeatedly across the online platforms used. Participation was however low with a total of 508 respondents filling the questionnaire across the three West African countries and beyond.
The data were extracted to a google spreadsheet and exported to Microsoft Excel Sheet and analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. The responses were sorted to separate responses to the close-ended questions from the open-ended questions. Data from the close-ended questions were subsequently analysed using frequency tables and charts. Meanwhile, the open-ended questions, where respondents freely expressed their opinions to specific questions were qualitatively analysed with findings integrated into the discussion section .
The bulk of the 508 respondents that filled the questionnaire were based in Nigeria. Out of these, 87% (n=446) responded from Nigeria, 7% responded from Sierra Leone (n=30), while respondents from Ghana accounted for 5% (n=25), and Diaspora 1% (n=7). Incidentally, the respondents rate is close to the percentage of the population census of the three countries. The approximation of the entire population of the three countries, according to Worldometer, is 247 million with Nigeria accounting for 208 million which represents 84% of the entire population of the three West African countries. This supports the 87% of the respondents coming from Nigeria.
In terms of age and gender, respondents were mostly between 18 and 45 years old. While more younger women aged 29 years and below responded to the survey, more men aged 30 to 45 years responded. By level of education, respondents were highly educated with the majority of them having post-secondary qualifications. The demographic data of respondents are presented in the charts below.
Study Limitations
This study is limited mostly by its adopted method. The adoption of online surveys, non-probability sampling of respondents, and restriction of respondents to smartphone users in the region are key limitations of this study. The online survey was adopted due to the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic to eliminate face to face contacts with respondents. Unfortunately, we could only share the questionnaire among personal contacts and groups on WhatsApp, and other social media platforms. The questionnaire was also repeatedly shared on Dubawa’s social media platforms. Despite repeated efforts in sharing the questionnaire links with thousands of smart-phone users, responses were low, struggling to hit just over 500 respondents after 4 weeks. Those without smartphone access were therefore strategically excluded from the study. This is a major shortcoming considering the sizable number of people without smartphone access in the West African sub-region. These limitations may therefore limit the generalisation of our findings. Despite these limitations, it is hoped that our findings can at least provide a glimpse into public understanding of misinformation in the public space and appreciation of fact-checking efforts. We hereby recommend a more robust study covering all major segments, and reflective of the socio-economic dynamics of the people within the region for future research endeavours.
Results
Level of awareness on misinformation in public space
In this study, we examined public awareness of misinformation in the public space. To achieve this, we asked respondents specific questions relating to their choice of media for news information; whether they encounter false information on such medium; and specific forms of presentation of false information in their preferred media. We then asked them to rate their perceived level of false information on varied media platforms spanning radio, television, newspaper, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram, and online news portals. They were requested to rate the platforms on a scale of one to four with four being highest, three as moderate, two as low, and one, being lowest.
Our findings suggest increasing reliance on online news portals for news-related information. One in three respondents (33%) identified online news portals as their prime source of news information. The increasing internet penetration in West Africa (Varrella, 2020) might be driving such a shift in news consumption. Unfortunately, these preferred media choices appear rife with false information with about three in four respondents (72%) confirming presence of false information on such platforms. The false information is often presented in different formats including audio, videos, images, and text. More than six out of ten respondents (64%) confirmed experiencing false information on their preferred media choice in all listed forms.
Facebook, WhatsApp rated as top Platforms for Promotion of False Information
Respondents mostly rated Facebook and WhatsApp as having the highest level of misinformation. Both platforms had an overall rated average of 3.5 on our rated scale of one to four. Online news portals, Twitter, and Instagram had overall moderate average rating recording approximate mean value of 3.0. Traditional news media, newspapers, radio and television were relatively well rated recording overall low rating of 2.0 thus suggesting members of the public still have higher level of confidence in information received from these traditional news media.
We further requested respondents’ view on the seeming abundance of false information in the public space. Many respondents confirmed abundance of false information in the public space relating misinformation (fake news) to “a pandemic” “on the loose” “thriving than real news” as it is reportedly “responsible for lack of trust in the media”, killing “the credibility of the news gathering process”, and with potential to “kill faster than guns”. Many believed that misinformation is not just “a threat to world’s security and democracy” but also “a recipe for unrest…associated with the post-truth age”. Respondents considered factors responsible for misinformation spread to include “lack of professionalism in the mainstream media”, “public’s docility, ignorance and complacency”. Many believed “Social media are more responsible” for promoting misinformation. Respondents thus suggested possible solutions to misinformation menace noting that while “media literacy is essential, social media needs to be regulated without hampering freedom of expression”and “the government needs to do more on fact-checking”.
Extent to which audiences verify information from the media
On verification of information in the media, we asked respondents specific questions on the extent to which they verify information they encounter in the media and how they usually identify false information. We also asked specific questions on whether they have cause to doubt information on social media. We requested them to strongly agree, agree, or otherwise to verify information they encounter on social media, and whether they tend to verify information on social media handles that have previously misled them.
Respondents expressed higher likelihood of verifying information in the media. More than nine in ten respondents confirmed regularly or sometimes verifying information they encounter. The remaining rarely or never did.
To identify false information, majority of respondents, more than eight in ten, (84%) said they often cross checked with other sources. Another 10%, or one in ten respondents said they simply base their judgement on their instincts. Few said they do not bother while others simply considered information in contrast to their beliefs to be fake. Three respondents each expressed variant views. One noted relying on eye-witness accounts, “From comments of everyday people who witnessed the said event”. Another noted her realisation often after exploring the content, “When you open the information e.g. job opportunity you will realise that it has expired”. The third noted evaluating the information source, “Checking the publisher or author of the information”.
Regarding information on social media, 95% of respondents confirmed doubting information they encountered on social media platforms. Three in four respondents (75%) agreed they verify information they come across on social media. Over 10% disagreed, while more than 14 percent were undecided.
Less than half of respondents (44%) agreed to only verifying information from social media platforms that have previously misled them. Over 30 percent of respondents, or about one in three, disagreed on this while one in four respondents (25%) were undecided.
Public Trust in the Media
On the level of public trust in the media, we examined the extent to which members of the public trust their preferred media, and also the information they receive therefrom. Respondents were asked to rate their trust level on a scale of five to one with five being ‘very high’, four as ‘high’, three as ‘average’, two as ‘low’, and one being ‘very low’. We then asked respondents to equally rate their trustworthiness of information on the same scale across various media covering radio, television, newspapers, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, online news portals and blogs.
Respondents appeared to have fair confidence in their choice media and the information they receive from their respective preferred media. Both recorded a relatively high overall average score of 3.7 on our scale of one to five. As earlier observed with respondents’ low rating of false information in the traditional mass media, respondents also fairly rated information they receive on these media. Radio, television, and newspapers recorded a well above average score of 3.7 to 3.9 on respondents’ trust ratings of their disseminated information. Information on Twitter, online news portals, and blogs received overall lesser than average ratings of 2.7 to 2.9. Information on blogs, Facebook, and WhatsApp got a rather low rating of 2.3 to 2.4.
Respondents’ trust ratings of information in the media on a scale of 1-5 (Very High as 5 to Very low as 1)
Information source
V. High (5)
High (4)
Average (3)
Low (2)
V.Low (1)
Total Resp.
Mean Score
Overall Rating
Information on Television?
11
278
102
105
5
501
3.9
High
Information on Radio?
12
260
146
75
5
498
3.8
High
Medium form which respondents mostly source information
82
200
201
16
4
503
3.7
High
Information respondents source from their preferred medium/media?
9
221
182
84
3
499
3.7
High
Information on Newspapers?
24
221
165
87
4
501
3.7
High
Information on Twitter?
128
89
209
25
41
492
2.9
Average
Information on online news portals?
83
95
269
15
35
497
2.9
Average
Information on Instagram?
142
55
229
11
47
484
2.7
Average
Information on blogs?
164
44
196
4
80
488
2.4
Low
Information on Facebook?
202
19
176
8
96
501
2.3
Low
Information on WhatsApp?
180
26
167
9
116
498
2.3
Low
Assessing Potential Influence of Fact-Checking
To examine potential influence of fact-checking organisations and their activities, we examined the level of awareness of fact-checking organisations among respondents. We requested to know whether they usually request fact-checking organisations to verify information they are doubtful of, and how often they do. We also examined their reliance on fact-checking organisations for false information in the media, and requested them to rate the extent to which these organisations have helped in improving our information ecosystem.
More than half of respondents were unaware of any fact-checking organisation. Over 70% (73%) of respondents failed to identify any fact-checking organisation. Dubawa was the most recalled organisation among respondents with about 16% mentioning the organisation. Africa Check had 9% mention while People’s Check had just 4%/ other fact-checking organisations or projects mentioned by respondents included Facebook fact checker, Fact Check Nigeria, FactCheck.org, Round Check, Fact Check Hub, and AFP Fact Check.
On requesting verification from fact-checking organisations, about six in ten respondents (58%) said they did not while four in 10 respondents (42%) said they did. Respondents also expressed less tendency to verify information (they are doubtful of) from fact-checking organisations. A similar percentage of respondents, (57%) said they never or rarely did.
More than half of respondents however confirmed being aware of false information in the media through these fact-checking platforms even though a large percentage (about 40%) were also undecided. Respondents mostly appreciated fact-checking efforts with about seven in ten respondents noting fact-checking has ‘fairly’ or ‘very well’ helped clarify information in the public space. Most respondents, more than six in ten, agreed to have personally benefited from activities of fact-checking organisations.
Discussions
The findings of this study have provided key roadmaps to the elucidation of the broad aim of the study, which is to investigate the information ecosystem in West Africa through the prism of fact-checking in the era of infodemic.
On the level of awareness of misinformation in the public space, participants’ array of definitional approaches to the term “fake news” explains their appreciable level of awareness of information disorder across board. The underpinning themes derived from their responses revolve around the usual narrative that is common to most news audiences. To a larger percentage of the respondents, the term can simply be explained as: unverified information, with a tendency to mislead; information that is untrue, misleading and factually incorrect; or as information that is “manipulated”, “fabricated” or, at best, “false information presented as true”.
The fact that an average respondent made a reference to any of the terms which even experts dealing with information disorder will most likely agree to, shows that their level of awareness and ability to spot fake contents is moderately high. The statistics of respondents (72%) confirming the presence of false information on their preferred media platforms also shows a growing level of awareness of infodemic in the region. This position is in tandem with a report on fake news and disinformation by the independent High-Level Group of Experts (HLEG) commissioned by the European Commission which defines “fake news” as a form of disinformation that thrives on “fabricated information, blended with facts, and practices that go well beyond anything resembling ‘news’ to include some forms of automated accounts used for astroturfing, networks of fake followers, fabricated or manipulated videos, targeted advertising, organized trolling, visual memes’’ (European Union, 2018, p.11; cited in Okoro & Emmanuel, 2019).
Apparently, this growing awareness of information disorder, particularly on social media might have influenced respondents’ doubting of information received on the platform. As reported in this study, while 75% of respondents verified information they received on social media, 95% of them confirmed doubting information on social media platforms. This finding supports a 2013 survey of online news users in the UK which showed that, on average, 25% used social media to find news at least once a week, but that less than 10% trusted that information (Schifferes, et al., 2014).
Reports have fingered social media as an enabler of information disorder in the public space (Ziga, 2018). This apparently influenced the reasons most respondents (95%) claim that they had cause to doubt information on the social media platforms. With diverse but mostly-related opinions, respondents claim that most information shared on social media platforms were influenced by mere instincts, highly polluted and prone to manipulations. For those who have been victims of false contents online, the tendencies are that they become highly sceptical than those who are not, as about “44% agreed that they verify information they received on social media platforms that have previously misled them”.
The growing awareness of the respondents about misinformation is indicative of the ability to move from mere instincts to a more cognitive and critical thinking in their levels of information consumption particularly on social media. This suggests that despite the indispensability of social media platforms, their propensity for being critical of any information is advancing. What factors specifically influence audience propensity for cognitive thinking faculty in their exposure to misinformation? Pennycook, Cheyne, Koehler, and Fugelsang (2015) explained the psychological motive behind these tendencies, using the Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT).
The Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT) measures one’s propensity to reflect on intuitions or cognitiveness. In their study, Pennycook et al (2015) observed that news audiences can be controlled by instinct (intuition) or cognitively. While the former most time stick to their instincts even when confronted with false information, the latter deploy cognitive thinking faculty to reflect and be sceptical when exposed to false content online.
Pennycook et al (2015) observed that intuitive individuals may or may not detect the need to think analytically, but they decide nonetheless to go with their gut.
Robson (2020) reacted to this theory and observed that, someone’s tendency to employ their intelligence by thinking things through in a deliberative, analytical fashion is ruled by cognitiveness. Those who do not reflect when confronted with a piece of information are not necessarily bereft of effortful thinking capacity as they are obviously in possession of substantial mental reserves, but they don’t “spend” them. They are simply cognitively miserly. Cognitive miserliness renders us susceptible to many cognitive biases, and it also seems to change the way we consume information (and misinformation).
The finding of this study concerning public trust in the media also corroborates existing literature as the respondents’ low rating of false information in the traditional mass media suggests a sustained level of trust in the mainstream media. Even, the fairly rated information they receive on the mainstream media corroborates an existing study which finds that more than a quarter of respondents trusted newspapers and broadcast media more than social media (Raji, 2020b). Hence, there is more indication that a significant number of the news audiences still maintain their trust in the established news brands rather than social media.
However, the legitimacy and credibility of information in the mainstream media is currently being challenged by the proliferation of fake contents that found their ways into the established news media. This has become a challenge in recent times to news audiences whose yearning for alternative sources of credible information and verification has gained traction with independent fact-checkers who realise there have been cracks. This is the gap fact-checking journalism aims to fill. Cheruiyot, et al, (2018) aver that in an environment where misinformation threatens news organisations, “the process of fact-checking in itself has become an epistemological tool that several actors beyond traditional journalism propose”. Annamarie (2017) also agreed that “fact-checking organisations arise from the need to remedy media failures”. What is the influence of fact-checking organisations on news audiences in West Africa? What has been their influence on the audience ability to cope with misinformation? Are citizens aware of fact-checking organisations in West Africa? What is the rate at which citizens request fact-checking organisations to verify information they are doubtful of, and how often do they engage in this?
The thematic areas gaining attention from the data analysed can be discussed from the angle of nomenclature, utility and request.
From the angle of nomenclature, which is the system of names, data shows most respondents (73%) were unable to identify existing fact-checking organisations in West Africa. This then calls to question the relationship that exists between the organisations and the news audience. The danger then shows that the goals of the existing fact-checking organisations to raise the consciousness of an audience to make informed decisions are still a far cry. The impact of these organisations can only be felt provided the essence of their professional goals resonates with the audience. Cheruiyot et al, (2018) reported that there are two ways fact-checkers aim to achieve their goals: one is to help members of the public to make informed decisions or “to have accurate data based on factual evidence and then the second is to help raise the standard of journalism or to help journalists be better at fact checking and doing their jobs”. The reality of these goals to be impactful on the audience is a function of relationship and the ability to recall the identity of the organisations that are making these commitments.
At the level of utility, evidence shows that the audience have benefited from the activities of these organisations, regardless of whether or not they could recall their names. As the finding indicates, more than half of respondents confirmed being aware of false information in the media through these fact-checking platforms. Could this be attributed to the collaboration between news media and fact-checking organisations that created a synergy in which fact-checks are embedded in the news reports for the audience to consume? Also, in many instances, audiences get exposed to these fact-checks on the organisations’ website or social media handles. However, this study did not examine if this awareness of false information translates into changing the minds of the audience. While research has documented efforts by fact-checking organisations in partnering with local media and journalists to mitigate the spread of false information in the public domain (Raji, 2020a), as well as fact-checking organisations at the frontline of combating information disorder (Folarin, 2020a), the current study has taken a step further in evaluating the level at which news audience make use of fact-checks and other verification efforts of these organisations. Based on this, it then observes that if the partnership between news media and fact-checking organisations is anything to go by, it has influenced news verification, dissemination, and consumption. It shows that the level of media literacy on false information and fact-checks consumption has really resonated with the audience. However, our findings could not establish if the high level of education of the respondents might have influenced their ability to explore fact-checking to cope with a misinformation ecosystem.
At the level of request for verification from fact-checking organisations, finding shows more than half of the population (58%) were not interested in requesting for verification when in doubt, while a little less than half did. This goes to show that many news audiences may not get better informed about the fact of particular issues despite being exposed to fact-checks. The categories of the news audiences sampled in this study can then be summarised along: (i) those who are aware of fact-checkers but cannot recall their names; (ii) those who are aware of false information through fact-checks but rarely request fact-checkers for verification; and (iii) those who hold onto their point of views even when in doubt. In this case, there is a correlation between these categories of news audience and those identified in Janing and Wagner (2020).
According to Janing and Wagner (2020), there are four types of news audiences. These include: (i) the informed (those who know and are confident that they know); the uninformed (those who are aware they do not know and they answer “I don’t know”), the misinformed (those who believe that they know even though they are actually mistaken); the ambiguously informed (those who admit they are guessing, right or wrong and admit they are not sure).
So, the similarity of perspectives that can be drawn from the analysis of categorisations presented by this study and that of Janing and Wagner (2020) is that respondents have different attitudes to fact-checking, its impact and how they think it affects their lives in the whole areas of misinformation ecosystem.
Again, it can also be concluded that the possibility of having an informed audience to emerge in the future is not impossible.
Conclusion
This study found a high level of public awareness on misinformation. The findings suggest an increasing reliance on online news portals for news-related information. However, respondents’ choice of media were not free of misinformation often experienced in varied forms. Our findings show greater levels of confidence in traditional news media. This study further established the prevalence of misinformation on social media platforms and the integrity of these platforms is nose-diving. This throws up the debate on the desirability or otherwise for social media regulations.
The extent to which the respondents verify information is high, as the majority admitted having crosschecked information they received with other sources. The study found a considerable level of media literacy skill with fair appreciation for fact-checking efforts.
Fact-checking is evolving in the West Africa sub-region. The increasing level of disinformation and misinformation underscores the importance of fact-checking in addressing the challenges of information disorder in Africa. Fact-checking organisations and other stakeholders need to increase media literacy and critical skills of the information audiences to improve the quality of information they consume. ‘Stakeholders must not relent in improving the awareness level and discerning minds of the media audience. Credible sources such as the mainstream media and fact-checking organisations must further equip themselves as “alternative and verification platforms”. Some of the models that could be improved on to achieve this include: training more journalists to be fact checkers, establishing fact-checking desks in mainstream media organisations, support research and further encourage professionalism in the media business. The frontline fact-checking organisations in Africa should also spread their tentacles and activities not only to other African countries in which they have not reached, but also cities and rural areas in the country they are presently domiciled.
Though the focus of this study measures the extent of awareness level and extent to which smartphone users verify information in West Africa, there is a need to find out the level of awareness of audiences not captured by this research especially those without internet connections and others in the rural areas.
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Raheemat is a lecturer at the School of Communication, Lagos State University, Nigeria. She is a scholar with over 13 years experience in researching media contents across varied platforms. She has research interests in journalism and health communication. She is a 2020 Dubawa research fellow. She was a 2018 Erasmus scholar at the Birmingham City University, UK, and participated at the British Council’s 2019 Researcher Connect Workshop. She holds a doctorate degree (Ph.D.) in Communication Studies (2018) from Lagos State University. Among her most recent works is Making health news: Examining how health influencers drive coverage of maternal and child healthcare issues in Nigerian newspapers, Communication & Society, 33(4), 47-60. Available at https://revistas.unav.edu/index.php/communication-and-society/article/view/39350
Rasaki Raji
Rasaki is a senior media content researcher at the International Press Centre (IPC) Lagos, Nigeria, with vast research interests in human rights and media development issues. He coordinated media content research project on 2019 general elections under the component 4b: Support to media of the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGN); media research project on 2015 general election, funded by the UNDP and jointly implemented by the International Press Centre (IPC) and the Nigerian Press council (NPC). He has also consulted for civil groups such as the Institute for Media and Society (IMS), Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) among others, on media research projects including the Regulators’ Monitoring Project (REMOP). In 2020, he is a research fellow of the Dubawa fact-checking arm of the Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ) as a fact-checking and accountability researcher.
Jamiu FOLARIN
Jamiu is a lecturer and researcher at the department of Mass Communication, Crescent University, Abeokuta and Ph.D candidate at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, Nigeria. His research thesis is focused on “Critical Analysis of Adoption of Digital Tools in Fact-checking Information on the 2019 Elections”. His research interests include: Media Technology, Information Disorder, Political Communication and Journalism Ethics. Jamiu is a 2020 Dubawa Research Fellow on Fact-checking at the Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ). Prior to his academic sojourn, he started his professional career at the first private radio station in Ogun State, Rockcity 101.9 F.M as one of the pioneer staff who built the News and Current Affairs Department. Jamiu is also the Ogun State Coordinator and Community Reporter, Connected Development, Abuja, with a Project tagged: “I Follow The Money” dedicated to tracking the national and international expenses in the area of Education, Health and Environment. He recently co-authored “Appraisal of the Usage of Freedom of Information (FoI) Act in Nigeria” published in the Book 5 series (2020) of the Association of Communication Scholars and Professionals of Nigeria (ACSPN).
Philip Acquaye
Philip is a Lecturer and Head of the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism at BlueCrest University College in Accra, Ghana. He is a trained journalist, marketing communication professional and a researcher with 12 years experience working in academia, media and civil society spaces. His research interests include Media Management, Media sustainability, Development Communication and Media ethics. Philip is a 2020 Dubawa Research fellow on Fact-checking in Ghana.
Alie Tarawally is a youth and development activist, researcher and also a graduate from The University of Sierra Leone, Fourah Bay College with a Division One degree in Sociology and History. Alie has worked on OSIWA, CODESRIA and British Academy Award Projects on Youths as well as several other research & consultancy with MEASURE EVALUATION and IMPACT MALARIA. Alie has over four years’ experience working on development policy research across Sierra Leone and has written articles on youths, politics, media and society.
Alie is a Commonwealth 100 0pen Source Leader, a Kectil 1000 Male Promise Leader and a Dubawa 2020 Fellow from Sierra Leone trained to fight against the dangers of information disorder by conducting fact-checks and providing media literacy articles and training in Sierra Leone. Currently, Alie is the Acting National Coordinator for the GRASS ROOTS ACTIONAL FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT- GRAND in Sierra Leone.
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