Kathleen Addy, Chairperson, of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE)
Kathleen Addy, Chairperson, of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), has cautioned Ghanaians about the information they receive and share, especially with the upcoming December elections, to ensure a peaceful and informed voting process.
She said that combating misinformation and disinformation was crucial to maintaining peace and democracy in Ghana, especially ahead of the December elections.
Ms. Addy gave the caution during an interview at a two-day workshop organized by the Commission in collaboration with the French Embassy.
The workshop aimed to equip NCCE staff with the skills to identify and address misinformation, disinformation, and hate speech
It was on the theme: “Well Informed Citizens for Election 2024: A Civic Education Initiative on Combating Mis/Disinformation and Hate Speech.”
Ms Addy said curbing the spread of misinformation and disinformation, particularly during the period of the election, was crucial in sustaining the peace that Ghanaians had enjoyed over the past 30 years.
To achieve that, she said, it would require commitment, self-discipline, and conscious efforts from all citizens, restraining themselves from sharing information that had the potential to cause mayhem.
“…look, maybe it’s not everybody who is in a position to take the extra steps to fact-check. As you are scrolling through your feed, you may not have the time or the desire to now go and fact-check, but if there is something like that, that kind of information drops in your feed, do not share,” she said.
“If we all make a conscious effort not to share insightful information, hateful information, doubtful information, information that looks like it is infringing on other people’s rights, it is information that is creating problems, building fear, and creating panic amongst people, let’s all commit to not sharing that information.
“That step alone, that individual step alone will go a long way to solve this problem that we are facing… Let us be more circumspect, let us be more thoughtful and stop sharing information that will not do us any good,” she said.
Ms Addy expressed concern about the canker on the work of the NCCE, explaining that as an institution whose basic duty was to inform the public, misinformation and disinformation was threatening its work.
The workshop, she said, was therefore timely as it would equip the staff of the commission with relevant tools necessary to fight misinformation and disinformation.
Ms. Christine Battesi, Political Counsellor at the French Embassy, noted that misinformation, disinformation and hate speech were major obstacles to the effective operation of democracy.
Although not new, she said, the situation had taken a new turn with the advent of social media.
“Today, information and misinformation circulate very quickly, and it is very easy to launch fake news campaigns, often anonymously,” she said.
Ms. Battesi stressed the need for heightened citizen’s awareness to identify and tackle the canker.
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