By Tchiengue Donald #defyhatenow
In Cameroon, the spectra of 2018 continues to hang over the lives of the population and the socio-political news, which remains marked by political and inter-community tensions that significantly threaten the much-vaunted cohesion and national unity. As a matter of fact in 2018, false narratives and manipulated content have considerably inflamed the media and the web. Although misinformation has always been one of the weapons used during elections in Cameroon, it was the first time that it was used on such a scale as to seriously threaten the essence of democratic process, to the point where we were on the brink of an unprecedented grassroots crisis. 

Six years on and one year away from the next elections in Cameroon, the relatively intact capacity for nuisance of accounts and/or pages stimulating tribal rivalries through the propagation of false information, the influence of purposely created fake news shadow cabinets, the traces and impact of online disinformation campaigns remain indelible and continue to weigh on the current national media landscape. To address this threat to peace, a number of local and regional initiatives have been launched, including the Africa Factchecking Fellowship and the 237 Check open platform run by #defyhatenow / Civic Watch Cameroon, which to date has equipped over 220 media professionals and community leaders in information verification techniques and methods. Over the past few years, these initiatives, led mainly by civil society and some media actors, have succeeded in raising public awareness and sounding the alarm about the dangers of false information. However, with just a few months to go before the upcoming elections, fears of a resurgence of disinformation and propaganda campaigns remain strong, especially given the information dynamics currently taking place on social media and in the press in relation to public governance, socio-political and even football issues.

Understanding the relationship between elections and disinformation 

Elections constitute an important moment in a process of democratization in Africa. It’s the indicated means of ensuring the orderly process of leadership succession and change and an instrument of political authority and legitimation. The failure of having credible elections or their absence is considered as a symbol of political dictatorships and personalized rule by the international community. Electoral process is the longest moment of the electoral cycle and it can be divided into three key phases: pre-voting, voting, and post-voting. Credible and transparent media coverage is crucial to ensuring greater citizen participation, strengthening social cohesion and promoting democracy.

The treatment and quality of information provided by the media is therefore particularly important at this time, as it could have a decisive impact on the outcome of the election, the turnout and, above all, the consolidation of peace. Nevertheless, in today’s digital age, disinformation appears to threaten the integrity of elections.

In Cameroon, as in most other African countries, misinformation or false rumours (the term ‘false rumours’ is more commonly used in sub-Saharan African legislation to describe fake news) are spreading rapidly thanks to widespread access to digital platforms such as WhatsApp, which is used more for private exchanges. The electoral experience of Gambia in 2021 and Nigeria in 2019 illustrates the role that WhatsApp can play in amplifying the proliferation of false information influencing the voting process and citizen participation.

On the other hand, the traditional and complex word-of-mouth information ecosystem sometimes perpetuates prejudices and false narratives developed in a context where Internet access does not reach 50% of the population. In such an environment, false information spreads rapidly, fuelling violence and political tensions because local communities have very few means of checking the data or content they receive.

In addition, socio-economic inequalities and exacerbated ethnic tensions, which are reinforced by biases and regularly used by politicians to manipulate the masses, also constitute a vector for disinformation. This observation is corroborated by the analysis of Anuragini Shirish and Kanika Kotwal revealing that a higher level of economic development of people in a State curbed its fake news propensity. In Africa instead, political actors work to construct ethnic enemies by maliciously exploiting weaknesses in information systems, hate speech and the fabrication of imaginary stories aimed at mobilising popular support for their personal interests during elections. In other words, repeated exposure to fake news and conspiracy theories help fuel hate speech, social polarization and violent extremism (Hassan et al. 2019). This has the effect of dividing communities, most of whose members do not always have the critical ability to properly analyse the truth from the false, or to identify the real causes of the social, political and economic problems they face, or to help formulate and monitor effective responses as it’s explained by Steven Livingston.Also the cases of Kenya’s elections in 2022 and Nigeria’s elections in 2023 prove that local politicians are increasingly using disinformation as a strategy to acquire popular supports.

 So, to avoid a repeat of catastrophic experiences in other countries and given that socio-political stability and the promotion of peaceful coexistence depend to a large extent on the establishment of a credible national information system made up of dynamic agents capable of producing and disseminating good information in a timely manner while respecting human rights, the 10th cohort of the #AFFCameroon program is one of #defyhatenow’s leverages for strengthening the capacities of mainstream and digital media, improving access to good information and developing intra-societal and community communication.

Perspectives for cohort 10 #AFFCameroon

The main objective of this 10th cohort is to improve understanding of the phenomenon of disinformation in real time, especially with the advent of artificial intelligence, in order to develop strategies to prevent people from adhering to conspiracy theories by defusing election-related fake news. To ensure that the conduct of elections poses no threat to peace, it is important that citizens have sufficient access to reliable information. For the coordinator of the Africa Factchecking Fellowship, Donald Tchiengue, the #AFFCameroon fellows must be upstream and downstream of the circulation of good information, helping to shape democratic debate and public opinion by preventing and mitigating fake news while producing verifiable and verified information. 

As peacekeepers, these media professionals (journalists and bloggers) and community leaders must give themselves a mandate to track down and denounce any attempt to influence or manipulate the masses online and offline. To this end, during their training they will be trained and equipped to:

• Verify claims made by politicians and media outlets, ensuring that information disseminated to the public is accurate and reliable. Through investigative content and factchecking articles to be publish on www.237check.org they should debunk disinformation campaigns and tactics employed to manipulate public opinion
• Educating the public through meetups on how to identify and discern misinformation, equipping individuals with the necessary tools to navigate the complex landscape of information 
• Promoting media and information literacy by promoting in-depth analysis to voters for them to have the necessary insights to make informed decisions.
• Contribute to the establishment of a monitoring and fact-checking unit in their media’s organization in other to be trusted sources of information. The purpose is the level of transparency about their sourcing and reporting processes, fostering trust and credibility among their audience.

In an era where the lines between fact and fiction can often blur, this contribution of #defyhatenow with the factchecking program #AFFCameroon is to promote democracy and transparency for the vital need of peace and social cohesion for a #HateFreeCameroon.