Disinformation thrives in conflict situations and in the world’s youngest nation, South Sudan, years of political uncertainty have cultivated a severe information disorder. In the face of another postponement of elections, community peace building including through debunking disinformation is critical to the country being able to stave off hate speech and incitement to violence.

According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), word-of-mouth remains the most prevalent source of information for the masses in South Sudan. However, with increased mobile and internet penetration, an explosion of user-generated content has created an environment where rumours fueled on social media take hold offline and become difficult to counter.

With support from the Africa Digital Rights Fund (ADRF), an initiative of the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), DefyHateNow has recently concluded a six-months knowledge and skills building project on countering disinformation and hate speech, complemented with digital rights and cybersecurity advocacy in South Sudan.

Leveraging the 211 Check and SafetyComm South Sudan platforms, monthly trainings on fact-checking, rights and safety online benefitted 98 content creators and civic actors.

“I loved it. We would like it to be regular; it should be a module in South Sudanese schools like universities and training for professionals,” said a trainee.

Select training beneficiaries were awarded fellowships through which they received more in-depth training and applied the acquired fact-checking and digital rights advocacy skills as part of placements within 211 Check and SafetyComm teams.

“The network that I have created as a result of this fellowship, both locally within the country and internationally, will help me to remain relevant and focused on fact-checking and digital rights.” –  A fellow and Program Manager at Junub Youth Action Network (JYAN).

“The fellowship has empowered and equipped me a lot in fact-checking, both theoretically and practically, with hands-on tools. It has shaped and broadened my ability to confidently take on the tasks of fact-checking and research in the mis/disinformation paradigm.” – A fellow and student at the University of Juba.

In addition to the training and fellowships, four radio talk shows on Advance Youth Radio and two virtual meetups were hosted to raise wider awareness about disinformation and hate speech. Among the meetup guest speakers was an analyst from the National Communications Authority who presented on government efforts to establish a Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT). Discussions also explored the challenges related to the Computer Misuse Order 2021, with a representative from the telecom services provider MTN speaking about the company’s efforts to uphold data privacy and overcome fraud.

Moreover, together with Junub Open Space, a local National Nongovernmental Organisation (NNGO) in Juba, DefyHateNow hosted five editions of “Salaam Fi Bet” (Peace at Home), a community-centred discussion on trust circles for information verification. Up to 107 individuals (62% women) from five neighbourhoods in Juba attended the discussions.

DefyHateNow’s ADRF-supported project builds on initiatives spearheaded by UNDP to tackle Covid-19 related misinformation and the Sentinel Project, which addressed hate speech and misinformation at the peak of the civil war in the East African country. As the perpetrators, pathways and effects of false news and information manipulation online evolve, the need for continued education and empowerment remains preeminent. This project demonstrates that collaborative efforts in knowledge and skills building can contribute to equipping people with the tools and resources to keep communities safe.

Read the article on CIPESA.

For more information, read the concept note: https://bit.ly/33t7h6s

If selected, you will gain knowledge and skills used by professional fact-checkers and help start a fact-checking community in your area or workplace.  

Applicants from across South Sudan and beyond are welcome to apply.

The overarching objective of this three-month training is to strengthen participant capacity on the promotion of veracity and accuracy of the information in the public domain in South Sudan.

The training is scheduled to take place from Monday, 03 October to Friday 16th December 2022 between 02:00 pm and 04:00 pm CAT, two days a week via Google Meet.

During the three-month training, trainees will learn:

– Fact-checking basics: Understanding fact-checking methodology & taxonomy, and fact-checking techniques using a range of specialized tools.

– Audience Engagement: Understanding how to create unique topics/themes for specific audiences, and how to build audience engagement and feedback systems.

– Production systems: Understanding how to design editorial/research workflow processes, tooling and staffing strategies, for streamlined integration into an organization’s wider production processes.

– Policy frameworks: Understanding how to apply international ethical and professional guidelines for quality assurance and industry accreditation, with special emphasis on applying the International Fact-Checking Network’s (IFCN) Code of Principles.

Are you eligible? Applicants must meet the following criteria:

1. You must be able and willing to commit to attending all the virtual classes and completing all lesson assignments during the three months.

2. You must have access to a laptop/computer or smartphone with internet connectivity, to be able to participate in online classes and benefit from the digital mentorship and electronic resources.

3. You must be based in South Sudan or elsewhere, with demonstrable local experience/insights.

4. You must be fluent in English, as this will be the language of instruction and mentorship. Your fact-checks may be produced/published in another language, but translated copies must be made available in English.

5. You must commit to sharing your new skills and insights within your organisation and wider journalistic/research fraternity, by demonstrating your projects and techniques to peers.

6. You demonstrate a commitment to free and independent media in your professional career.

Upon ‘graduation,’ you will be awarded a certificate of completion and inducted into 211 Check’s community of professional fact-checkers. Here is the training syllabus: https://bit.ly/3IgY6EA

The deadline for applications is 09 September 2022 at 4:30 PM

The phones were supplied by Internews under the Rooted in Trust project, an initiative aimed at gathering COVID-19 and health-related rumours and countering misinformation on critical health issues.

Beneficiaries were mainly participants in the workshop organized by #defyhatenow South Sudan through its two flagship projects 211 Check and SafetyComm in partnership with Internews under the Rooted in Trust project.

Speaking during the event on Tuesday, John Ngor Arok, #defyhatenow South Sudan Project Lead,  advised beneficiaries to use the gadgets appropriately.

“Take care and make good use of the phone. This is just like your personal property except that we would require you to send us rumours for the next three months for us to assess whether to grasp the concept of what you were taught or not,” Arok said.

He encouraged the participants to send at least five rumours in a week or one per day as the organization supplies data bundles on a monthly basis.

Emmanuel Bida Thomas, 211 Check Coordinator, told participants to practice what they learned and reach out in case of any setback.

Beneficiaries were given three tip lines through which they can share rumours from their various geolocations. The tip lines include WhatsApp, Google Form, and SMS.

Meanwhile, the trainees hailed #defyhatenow South Sudan and its partner organization Internews for the training and appealed for the training to be extended in all states and administrative areas in South Sudan.

This, they said, could help sensitize citizens outside the capital Juba to make informed decisions on critical health-related information.

The training was one of the many being undertaken by #defyhatenow South Sudan across different states in the country. So far, the organization conducted similar training in three states; Jonglei, Eastern Equatoria, and Central Equatoria under the Rooted in Trust project.

The Rooted in Trust 2.0 project in South Sudan is funded by the USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (USAUD-BHA) through Internews.

It aims to respond to rumours, misinformation, and fake news that shape negative public perceptions of the COVID-19 response in South Sudan.

The first session of the workshop trained participants on health misinformation, fact-checking, information verification, and cyber safety for media practitioners from different parts of the state.

The successive session on 8th June 2022 targeted healthcare workers, religious leaders, and members of civil society organizations who were trained on rumour management, fact-checking, and cyber safety.

The workshop was organized by #DefyHateNowEA through its 211check and SafetyComm projects with support from Internews and the National Communication Authority.

Speaking after the workshop, Emmanuel Bida, 211check coordinator, hailed attendees for being participatory throughout the sessions adding that the workshop was a huge success.

“We had two fruitful workshop days in Torit and we sincerely thank participants for honouring our invitation to share experience in rumour management and internet safety. The impressive feedback we received indicates that the workshop was a huge success,” he said.

One of the participants said during a post-workshop assessment that he learned how to be safe on the internet and spot real news from fake news.

“This workshop was very productive, it has helped me personally learn how to use social media safely,” the participant said.

“I also learned how to verify misinformation and how to be careful when using social media,” added the participant.

The post-workshop evaluation forms filled by the attendees indicate more than half of the participants suggest the extension of the training to other parts of Torit and Eastern Equatoria as a whole.

The two-day workshop was the first of its kind organized by #DefyHateNowEA through 211 check and SafetyComm projects in partnership with the National Communication Authority.

Fellows will undergo an intense three months training as they work with professional cyber safety teams in the region. The fellows will work as a part of SafetyComm’s national cyber safety team based in Juba with travel to the other states.

Female candidates are encouraged to apply.

SafetyComm is a platform that works on combating cyber threats to citizens in South Sudan by providing a support system to mitigate harmful cyber trends. The Initiative offers support to victims of online harm, creates awareness, and provides capacity building to various governmental, non-governmental, and private sector actors in South Sudan. The platform was established as a joint effort of #defyhatenow and the National Communication Authority, since its establishment, SafetyComm has responded to over 200 incidents related to the online safety of South Sudanese citizens, while most of these issues are viewed as common threats, SafetyComm has witnessed an increased level of new types of threats and strategies used by online scammers, hackers and various malicious actors to manipulate and harm South Sudanese online.

About #deyhatenow
DHN is a national organization that works on promoting digital rights and creating a framework for increasing trust between stakeholders and communities in Africa through mobilizing civic action against all forms of hate speech, misinformation, human rights violations, and incitement to violence; with an operational base in Juba, South Sudan

About NCA
NCA is the National Telecommunication and ICT regulator in South Sudan, established by an act of parliament and mandated by the Government of South Sudan to facilitate access to affordable quality ICT services through a conducive environment to enable accelerated socio-economic development in the country. NCA is currently headquartered in Juba, South Sudan, and has operations in the ten states of South Sudan and the three administrative areas.

Follow the link to apply https://forms.gle/mBFe1H7TXWDM44Zc8 before Saturday 28th May, 2022

Contact us on this email for more information

info@safetycomm.org