BY LEON MUTWIRI

The world is celebrating the UNESCO Global Media and Information Literacy week.

Media Information Literacy entails consuming data from established information bodies. News outlets like The Voice Daily put verification of news content first, meaning that the content one consumes, is free of bias and thus cannot misinform the audience

Events in this week (24th to 31st October) is meant to call on all media consumers to take charge of the information they share or use as its effects are visible.

In the recent past, media content with unverified information has been on the rise.
Audiences across social platforms have been misinformed, some out of utter ignorance and others genuinely not knowing.

A few weeks back, during the ongoing impeachment proceedings against the Kenyan deputy president Rigathi Gachagua, posts on well known platforms like X, were being shared implying that Gachagua had issued a resignation letter, amidst the ongoing parliamentary sessions.

Such posts were deceptively real, that some users believed them and forwarded the information to their respective personal accounts as well as sharing on platforms like WhatsApp status.

This act of a user taking unverified news and posting on their personal walls, is misinforming to their audience. The implication of such a post may paint a certain picture but with less harmful effects.

However some serious misinformation about a person, state or an organisation, might be more detrimental, to a point they destroy the body’s reputation in the society, hence a need to use valid information.

Misinformation and disinformation in Kenya

According to the Media Council of Kenya (MCK), misinformation and disinformation have significantly impacted the country’s information landscape.

The MCK 2022 State of the Media Report reveals that approximately 60 percent of Kenyans have encountered false or misleading information, particularly through social media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, and Twitter.

One might wonder then, how can they go about to avoid such cases of misinformation?

For instance, if news about a certain office such as the office of the deputy president has been shared and you are not 100 percent sure of its validity, the first step you can take is visit the said office’s page or website to validate the news.
If you find it present and similar to what you earlier saw, then go ahead and share.

Misinformation can be about data in cases like disease prevalence.

Instead of spreading unverified information, take a step and verify from the concerned body; for example the Ministry of Health or the Kenya Medical Research Institute. This might be tedious, but it might save you from arrest and prosecution for spreading false information.

Non-governmental organisations like the Amnesty international or United Nations, provide updated and verified information across all sectors that ensures proper information of the audiences.

With the rise of content creation, it is one’s role to ensure that the content they disseminate is worthwhile and factual. Fact checking can be done through use of sites like Politrack,Pesa Check, Africa Check, among others that help discern the worth and the truth of news posted.

It will take our combined efforts to end vices of misinformation, but it will take steps like cross-checking news from multiple sources, following updates from credible sources on social media to gain fast access to some debunked claims.

Through these, we will achieve a media literate society.

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