Engaging owners of social media platforms will help censor information circulation – Kojo Asante

• Dr. Kojo Asante says shutting down social media will affect businesses that trade online

• He believes engaging government on what to do about censoring fake news and information is key

• Dr Asante was speaking at a two-day workshop on disinformation and misinformation on social media.

The Director for Policy and Advocacy of the Centre for Democratic Development, Ghana (CDD-GH), Kojo Asante, has stated that there is a need to engage the government and owners of various social media platforms in the deliberations on disinformation and misinformation about electoral processes.

According to him, it will go a long way in ensuring that people do not hide behind social media platforms and spew false information.

Speaking in an interview with the media, Dr. Asante said there are lots of opportunities social media presents which are positive, but the influx of the false information put out there by users makes it a threat to development and a peaceful electoral process.

“Government needs to take serious interest in shutting down those who spread fake news on social media, you have already seen government shutting down internet or social media platforms but if you recall in speech, I said the challenge is how we strike the balance, I think everybody recognizes both the threat but also the opportunities. Even if you think of it in economic terms, if you shut down Facebook, the number who have just generated businesses or rely on that platform to do their business is huge, so the benefits are there but the threats are also there, so how do we strike the balance? And that has to do with not just the government but also the platform and those who control the platform like Facebook, WhatsApp among others,” he said.

He also said the West African Election Observer Network (WAEON) and its member states are holding the two-day workshop to come up with appropriate measures to deal with the threat the new media is posing to electoral processes in the sub-region.

The two-day workshop is being held from today July 12, 2021 to tomorrow July 13, 2021 on the theme, ‘Enhancing the capacity of domestic election observer groups to address the challenges of electoral Disinformation and Misinformation.’