Battling the Infodemic: Experts proffer strategies against misinformation and disinformation

The stakes for successful crisis communication have never been higher in a time when false information and deception spread quickly. From corporate scandals to public health campaigns, disseminating misleading information puts businesses, governments, and people at serious risk. Experts say that a multipronged strategy including legal and regulatory frameworks, the media, reputation management, and tech solutions is required to counter this threat.

Recently, Master’s students from the School of Media and Communication, Pan Atlantic University organized the Peer PR Conference 2024, a hybrid event that brought together industry experts from the legal profession, the media, brand management, and technology to discuss strategies for effective crisis communication in the digital information age.

Setting the tone for the discussion, Barr. Ime Asibong, the keynote speaker and Company Secretary of the 191-megawatt independent power plant owned by Akwa Ibom State, highlighted the legal and regulatory frameworks that can mitigate the spread of misinformation. He listed current legislations that prevent misinformation from spreading and the necessity of striking a balance between free speech and accountability.

“Everyone has the right to freedom of expression, which includes the freedom to hold opinions and to freely receive and disseminate ideas and information,” he stated, citing Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution. However, it has been decided in multiple instances that have been put to judicial interpretation that “Your rights stop where another person’s rights begin. Freedom of information is guaranteed but it is not absolute”.

The keynote speaker emphasized the necessity of striking a balance between using one’s right to free speech and harming other people’s reputations by spreading false information. According to him, there is a clause in the Common law that allows one to pursue legal action for defamation, which includes both libel and slander – written or spoken statements that harm another person’s reputation.

“The court may grant damages that can be used as exemplary, punitive, or aggravating types of remedy if this is shown in a court of law. In addition, relief may be sought under statutory legislation provided in the Cybercrime Act of 2015, S. 330 of the Criminal Code, and the Nigerian Broadcasting Code of 2016. Barr. Asibong, however, cautioned against excessive regulation, which can inadvertently suppress free speech.

As the first line of defense in combating misinformation, media organizations need to put more emphasis on fact-checking and responsible reporting, according to Mr. Obinna Chima, Editor of ThisDay on Saturday about the role of the media in containing misinformation and how media institutions can act as gatekeepers and fact-checkers to reduce the spread of misinformation.

By making sure that news sources are verified, media outlets can encourage or support responsible reporting. “We learnt a few days ago that the MD of a Nigerian airline was charged with money laundering in the US. We awoke one morning to the news that the individual had been cleared of the money laundering charges on the websites of two major Nigerian newspapers. Some of us were afraid that we might have overlooked the story, only to discover later that the newspapers were misinformed. About two million people had viewed the story on both websites by the time they discovered it was untrue and removed it. They wouldn’t have put that story on their websites if they had checked its source”.

Mr. Chimma emphasized the necessity for media professionals to keep themselves out of news reports. This is the only way to remain objective, he remarked. In order to preserve impartiality, media professionals must separate their prejudices from the news report and encourage editorial independence, even if it concerns someone with whom they have some sort of affiliation. He also talked about the importance of investing in media literacy by teaching people what they should know and how to avoid being misled by false information.

“The structure of organizations needs to be wired such that it can withstand the challenges of corporate reputation management,” stated digital media and communication specialist, Keni Akintoye, who said that reputation management is crucial for public figures and organizations in a crisis driven by false narratives.

“First, we are now realizing how important it is to have a company philosophy. The way the brand’s corporate philosophy is created determines how it will react to misinformation and disinformation. What are your core values? What are the cultures that you hold very dear as a business? What is the make of your leadership? Now, you see that brands are paying attention to the leadership because the leadership reflects the brand. CEOs are becoming more present on social media because people are paying attention to the personalities that represent the brand and the level of goodwill that they are able to build”, he said.

According to Keni Akintoye, the brand philosophy grows from the foundation of how information about your brand is treated by you and how it is received by your customers and society in general. How do you communicate? What is your tone as a brand – are you the humorous brand or the sage? Are you the calm and collected or the playful brand? How Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Atlantic, will communicate differs from how British Airways will communicate. The tone of the brand is part of the elements that help brands prepare for days of ‘trouble’”.

Oluwaseun Oyeniyi, the former Editor-in-Chief of TechCabal and founder of UK-based TechPR Africa, also revealed at the Peer PR Conference that technology improvements offer potential solutions to counteract the spread of misinformation and disinformation. “We have Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, fact-checking organizations and then there are also web browser extensions, those are the three categories of Tech solutions. For the AI tools, there is Bot Sentinel, which is the most prominent. It allows people to identify and track bots that are spreading misinformation on Twitter (now X).

For browser extensions, News Guard helps to track the sources of online news to determine their relevance and credibility. A popular fact-checking organization is Africa Check. Online news can be submitted to this organization online to verify its authenticity. These tech solutions are easily available to everyone. It is also important for media users to become media savvy and have digital media literacy to detect false news. Publishing has been democratized therefore, just because something is published does not mean it is true, where is the evidence backing the claim? Where is the source? Is this a credible source?” he said.

The primary takeaway from the hybrid Peer PR 2004 event, which was hosted by Masters Students of the School of Media and Communication, Pan Atlantic University on Microsoft Teams and a live audience in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, is that countering misinformation and disinformation requires evolving tactics. A more knowledgeable and resilient media consumer can be created by combining legal and regulatory frameworks, media integrity, proactive reputation management, and innovative technologies.

“This project was carried out as the author’s Project Based Internship (PBI) as an MSc Media and Communication student of the School of Media and Communication, Pan-Atlantic University.”