African anti-misinformation steps miss offline spread

Significance

With only about 20% of the continent's population connected directly to social media, key channels for the spread of misinformation are offline via traditional media (mostly radio and TV) and ‘pavement media’ or social discussions about current events in marketplaces, places of worship, bars, etc. People who lack internet access have been shown to be even more vulnerable to circulating misinformation than their online counterparts.

Impacts

• Community-level digital literacy will remain crucial for curbing the sharing of unverified information between social communities.
• Government pressure for content moderation on social media will grow, creating operating obstacles for foreign firms.
• COVID-19-related disinformation will continue to feed vaccine hesitancy and anti-vaxxer sentiment in the region.