Verifying information source critical to curbing information disorder – NCCE

Greater Accra Regional Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Mr. Mawuli Agbenu has expressed concern at the rate of indiscriminate sharing of information without recourse to due diligence such as verifying the source of said information.

His concern was revealed during a sensitization activity with students of Ebenezer Senior High School at Dansoman in the Greater Accra Region.

Highlighting information disorder, Mr. Agbenu indicated that just a single false statement or hate speech carries enough weight to trigger conflict, which could escalate into a civil war, if not checked. He cited the 1994 incidence of the Hutus and Tutsis, two major tribes in Rwanda who went at each other’s throat following an irresponsible statement by a journalist on a radio station in the country.

Mr. Agbenu additionally called on the students to be mindful of certain websites they access, stating “make sure that the website you are logging on to is a secured one in order not to avail yourself to any potentially fraudulent activity by unscrupulous individuals”.

Meanwhile, he cautioned the students on the reality of mal-information, which is information that is based on truth taken out of context and used to inflict harm on a person, organisation or country. He thus advised them to desist from sharing very personal information, including explicit media contents. “Do not share with others contents you would not be proud to have out there some time in the future when you are all grown up”, he emphasized.

Gracing the session was the Chairperson of the Commission, Ms. Kathleen Addy, who counselled the students to report any act that comes across as a cyber activity targeted at undermining their personality and presence on social media to the school authorities and/or their parents, if such an incident happens at home.

The NCCE in partnership with the French Embassy in Ghana is targeting students of the various senior high schools in Ghana with the hope of enlightening them on the dangers of misinformation, disinformation, mid-information, mal-information and hate speech.