Firms like Facebook have fought back by cutting financial incentives for
sources of fake news, locking fake user accounts, limiting spam and
reducing links to suspect pages. PHOTO | AFP
Summary
- Facebook's 7 million monthly users in Kenya will see the new tool to help them evaluate content displayed prominently when they log on.
- It leads to a page with tips on how to spot fake news, including checking web addresses and sources and looking for other reports on the topic, Facebook said.
- The new tool will be complemented by adverts in newspapers and radio stations.
- A recent survey found that nine out of every 10 Kenyans had seen fake news and that half of consumers got news through social media.
Facebook rolled out a tool this week to
help Kenyan users spot fake news ahead of a hotly-contested presidential
election that has seen supporters of rival candidates trade bitter
words online.
Voters go to the polls on Tuesday to pick
a president, parliament and regional representatives. Incumbent
President Uhuru Kenyatta is running against his arch-rival, veteran
opposition leader Raila Odinga.
Final polls have shown a
tight race between both candidates after months of campaigning where
supporters smeared each other on social media.
The
torture and murder of a senior official at the electoral commission last
weekend generated an avalanche of conspiracy theories and accusations.
A
survey of 2,000 Kenyans carried out through mobile phone messaging
found that nine out of every 10 respondents had seen fake news and half
of consumers got news through social media, according to a study by
Geopoll and Portland Communications last month.
"Fake
news is increasingly becoming a big problem in Kenya," said Alphonce
Shiundu, the Kenya editor of Africa Check, a non-profit organisation
seeking to boost fact checking and newsgathering on the continent.
Facebook's
7 million monthly users in Kenya will see the new tool to help them
evaluate content displayed prominently when they log on. It leads to a
page with tips on how to spot fake news, including checking web
addresses and sources and looking for other reports on the topic,
Facebook said in a statement.
The new tool will be complemented by adverts in
newspapers and radio stations. The announcements will be in both English
and the local Swahili language.
Fake
news, mainly generated by website owners in order to drive readers to
their sites to generate advertising revenue, was thrust into the
spotlight during the US presidential election last year.
The
issue has also become a big political topic in Europe, with French
voters deluged with false stories ahead of the presidential election in
May and Germany backing a plan to fine social media networks if they
fail to remove hateful postings promptly, ahead of elections there in
September.
Firms like Facebook have fought back by
cutting financial incentives for sources of fake news, locking fake user
accounts, limiting spam and reducing links to suspect pages.
"People want to see accurate information on Facebook," said Ebele Okobi, director of policy at Facebook Africa.
Kenya's electoral commission said it had been a victim of online fake news but it did not provide details.
Recent
examples of fake election news for Kenya include a photograph of a
crumbling bridge in a section of a new billion shilling railway that
Kenyatta touts as one of his main achievements, Africa Check said.
A
fake document claiming the company that organised a television debate
that Kenyatta snubbed was owned by key Odinga allies was also an example
of fake news, the organisation said.
"From the kinds
of things that we have seen doing rounds online, on Facebook, WhatsApp,
Twitter, and websites mimicking real news sites, we get the sense that
there’s a lot of false content about the elections," Shiundu said.
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