Misinformation is making The Gambia’s transition from dictatorship to democracy more complicated ahead of a presidential election, a report by the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) has found.

The report, The Gambia’s Fake News Ecosystem: An Overview, noted that such information is amplified by increased access to communication tools, particularly social media.

The report, written by the Executive Director of Centre for Research and Policy Development, Sait Matty Jaw, is part of a series of research by CDD to explore the misinformation ecosystem in each of the countries that make up West Africa.

It noted that disinformation has contributed to the polarisation of the country’s political environment ahead of the December 2021 election. It will be the first presidential poll in the country since Yahya Jammeh’s dictatorial reign ended in 2016.

According to Democracy in Africa (DIA), the state of political intolerance, religious and ethnic politics has reached alarming proportions, triggering concerns that the country may experience damaging political conflict ahead of the elections.

‘What is clear is that fake news is affecting every domain of The Gambia’s transition, making its journey from dictatorship to democracy even more complicated ahead of a presidential election in December 2021’, the report read.

‘The report notes that with the liberalisation and proliferation of the media landscape and stalled political transition due to elite fragmentation, misinformation and disinformation has come to characterise [The] Gambia’s post-dictatorship political landscape, and is increasingly contributing to ethnic and political polarisation’.

The report also stated that the spread of misinformation in The Gambia is mostly laced with political undertones.

‘Given the usefulness of social media for political mobilisation, organisation and sharing campaign information, party agents, or those claiming to be, are using it to spread falsehoods on platforms like Facebook Live ahead of the 2021 presidential election’, it noted.

The main online platform in The Gambia, WhatsApp, contributes prominently to the dissemination of falsehoods in local languages, often through voice notes, according to the report.

‘A recent study on the role of WhatsApp in the country notes that despite the limited access, it is mostly notable personalities with increasing influence that have access to such platforms and that online discussions migrate offline through traditional channels, such as radio, to have a wider reach’, it said.

‘The crossover effect of such false news from online channels to traditional media houses is making falsehoods more prevalent and expanding the audience they reach.

‘Although the internet did not start the spread of fake news, it has further enabled it. The availability of the internet has made it far cheaper and easier to produce and disseminate fake news to a wider audience and much harder to sort fact from fiction.

‘Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, alongside messaging applications like WhatsApp, have served as popular conduits; with these platforms enabling people to share a myriad of information in a range of audio, text and visual formats’.

Data from Data Reportal shows that the number of social media users in The Gambia increased by 16 percent between 2020 and 2021, while the number of internet users increased by 23 percent.

‘A large percentage of these social media users are young, with Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and private messenger applications like WhatsApp the leading platforms used to share information’, the CDD report read.

‘A 2019 survey found that 69 [percent] and 53 [percent] of young people between 18–29 and 30–35 using social media every week’.

The report also noted that the Information and Communication (Amendment) Act provides that internet users, journalists and bloggers found guilty of spreading false news can be punished by up to 15 years in prison and may be fined up to D3million (U.S.$74,690).

With regard to recommendation, the report highlighted the need to expand the existing regulatory framework to effectively contain the spread of misinformation in the country.

It also called for social media code of conduct to be publicly signed and adhered to by all political parties in order to limit the spread of misinformation and hate speech by online activists ahead of the election.

Furthermore, the report urged civil society organisations and the media to create wider awareness of misinformation and disinformation.

Source: CDD West Africa

Photo source: State of Mic