U.S. Embassy trains social media managers and digital influencers on disinformation

The United States (US) Embassy in Ghana has trained social media managers, digital influencers and bloggers in combating misinformation, disinformation and fake news ahead of Ghana’s 2024 elections.

The workshop, an initiative of the US Embassy in Ghana under the 2024 Elections Speaker Programme, aimed at training the social media executives on misinformation, disinformation, fake news and the use of appropriate fact-checking tools to counter the growing threats of the phenomenon ahead of the 2024 elections.

The US and Ghana, who both have presidential elections in November and December 2024 respectively, are among about 50 countries going into elections with 40 billion people expected to cast their votes in those elections.

Held at the Embassy of the US in Ghana, the workshop equipped participants with strategies to counter the spread of false information during the electoral period.

With the rise of social media platforms as primary sources of news and information dissemination, the dissemination of misleading or false content has become a pressing concern for democracies worldwide.

In recognition of the urgency of the issue, the U.S Embassy Ghana has initiated a series of proactive efforts to train journalists, editors, social media managers, and digital influencers, among others, to help safeguard the integrity of the electoral process and ensure that voters and the public have access to accurate and reliable information.

Mr Kelvin Brosnaham, Information Officer, U.S Embassy Ghana, said misinformation and disinformation were a global challenge with the first high- profile example witnessed in the 2016 elections in the U.S.

He said since then, misinformation and disinformation had played a role in many issues across the world and with social media currently, it had become part of elections.

Mr Brosnaham said as part of the 2024 Elections Speaker Programme, the Embassy was working with the Ghana Journalists Association to train journalists, editors, journalism students, and stakeholders like civil society groups, to educate and sensitise them on the potential impact that misinformation and disinformation could have on Ghanaian elections.

The Information Officer said those training had exposed participants to what the markings for misinformation and disinformation were and how they could respond effectively and combat it through fact-checking to debunk it before it goes viral.

Mr Brosnaham said social media had its ups and downs as it gave voice to people who would normally not have a voice in politics or policy or human rights issues and others.

“But it has also given voice to those that want to do harm and those that want to undermine elections or undermine democracy. So that’s where we must make sure we have safeguards in place,” he noted.

“…disinformation undermines the truth and undermines the things we use to make decisions. So, fighting that means supporting truth, fact checking and making sure that at least what journalists are reporting or sharing can be reliable and helpful for the political or policy discussion in Ghana and around the world,” he explained further.

Ms Sarah Wachter, an expert on election misinformation, U.S. Speaker Programme, who facilitated the training workshop, said a significant amount of the world’s population were online, and that in Ghana for instance, 70 per cent of Ghanaians had access to the internet.

In every election, she said, the impact of the social media landscape was enormous with billions of users globally and millions in Ghana alone.

“So, the impact of social media compared to legacy media is that they have much more reach. They are 24/7 and they can have an enormous impact positively and negatively. It is a very powerful tool,” she said.

Ms Watcher, also a former journalist with the Associated Press (AP), said there were a few concerns that were beginning to surface and Ghana needed to be aware of its potential during its election circle, cautioning of the disinformation and harms that could be generated by artificial intelligence (AI) ahead of the upcoming elections.

“There are signs in the elections that have already taken place in places like Taiwan, Indonesia, and Slovakia, which are three very interesting examples in the past few months,” she added.

She said AI had the ability to supercharge disinformation because those tools, including deepfakes, did not cost much to produce, adding that in an age of artificial intelligence, the string of origin was an important clue to combating deepfakes.

Ms Watcher, also a media trainer, said the most important skill to decrypt disinformation was to “be skeptical of everything you watch and read. Do not forward or publish anything where you have not verified the facts and the source.”

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