BWIRE: Time for scribes to expose disinformation

Globally, disinformation in the age of the speed of social media has become so prudent in shaping public opinion, often influencing elections, and eroding trust in some institutions. In Kenya, information sometimes travels faster than verification.

It then remains the responsibility of scribes, that is journalists, writers, and public thinkers, to urgently check and correct any misinformation or disinformation.

Disinformation refers to false or misleading information that is deliberately created and shared with the intention to deceive, manipulate opinions, or influence public perception. Unlike misinformation, which may be spread unknowingly, disinformation is intentional and often used in political, social, or economic contexts to confuse audiences, create division, or achieve a specific agenda.

Any claims perpetrated against an institution for instance, becomes gospel truth unless proven otherwise. When proven otherwise, unfortunately, the damage is mostly always done.

During campaign periods such as this and next year, those who craft fake narratives will be at their peak, creating so much harm to would be good institutions, good parties and good candidates.

Scribes have historically served as society’s record-keepers and conscience, and the expectation is no different in Kenya. Today, our role as scribes must evolve into active resistance against any falsehoods peddled by those that craft and market false narratives and sensational stories to us.

The temptation of also picking and developing on false narratives is there, thus we should scrutinise stories, and reclaim authority when it comes to publishing, especially on the upcoming elections, institutions, candidates among other agenda.

For instance, there has recently been a rise in AI generated content in Kenya, including fake fabricated images and edited videos of political leaders or even sometimes satirical images of the said leaders.

These have been used during protests and political debates, sometimes misleading the public or escalating tensions. Technology is therefore making disinformation more convincing and harder to detect.

Exposing disinformation requires more than fact-checking. It is the courage to challenge powerful interests, patience to trace sources, and clarity to communicate truth in ways that resonate with the Kenyan and wider public.

Our digital landscape is however, filled with so much information, and it only takes a minute of the audience's time to buy into any disinformation piece. It is therefore prudent that we as scribes take time to verify anything put out there, from mainstream to gutter media. Any complex information should be broken down as much as possible to create understanding to the lay audience.

Moreover, scribes should also continuously recognise their influence. Every article we write, post, or broadcast contributes to shaping public understanding, from young to old, Kenyan or foreign, our information travels wider than we could ever think.

Our own ethical responsibility for truth should guide the influence that we have, such that we prioritise accuracy over speed, context over the common clickbait, and ultimately integrity over how popular you or your media house becomes.

Scribes in this day and age can detect disinformation by rigorously verifying sources, cross-checking facts across credible outlets, analysing the source’s intent and any potential bias, and using the plenty of paid and unpaid digital verification tools like for instance Google reverse image search which is completely free to use, among others to confirm the authenticity of the content we publish and broadcast.

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Vera writes on African Youth, Democracy, Higher Education and Development