- Nukta Habari has initiated a special initiative to verify Coronavirus misinformation
- The program aims at safeguarding the public from misinformation and contributes the fight against the pandemic
As the world continues to grapple with the Coronavirus (COVID-19), misinformation about the pandemic has been an additional challenge facing many countries, reducing the efforts to eliminate the disease.
In a bid to reduce the spread of online falsehood, Nukta Africa, a digital media and technology company is joining other fact checkers in the world by embarking on full time fact checking COVID-19 misinformation and disinformation, thanks to Boresha Habari program funded by USAID.
The company through its Swahili news portal, Nukta Habari, will from May 5 start publishing regularly fact checked content in its newly created social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram through @NuktaFakti.
The initiative is a starting point towards the creation of the special fact checking page in the fast growing data-driven news site.
To achieve the mission, fact checkers will be using open source tools and primary sources to verify misinformation that is spreading daily on social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and in social messaging apps like Whatsapp.
Though Nukta Habari has been fact checking falsehoods for more than two years, the current project is set to join forces with other stakeholders to reduce the impact of misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic in the world.
Apart from using open source digital tools in verification, fact checkers will also be offering useful public health information from credible sources such as ministry of health in Tanzania, World Health Organization (WHO) and reliable sources to educate the public on how to prevent themselves from the pandemic that has already claimed more than 250,000 lives worldwide.
The program will be an opportunity for the public to understand easily important issues related to the disease by using simple communication tools such as infographics.
Nuzulack Dausen, the CEO and Executive Editor of Nukta Africa said fact checking should not be considered as the role of the media organisations and journalists alone instead everyone must play part in fighting misinformation at this challenging times of COVID-19.
“Though we have been fighting misinformation for two years now, Nukta Africa now wants to intensify our efforts on verification especially on COVID-19 content. We will also offer tips to our audience on how to fact check by themselves,” he said.
Dausen said his team will ensure most misinformation spreading in Tanzania and in the region are fact checked thoroughly with the support of Nukta Habari’s readers who are encouraged to send any content on COVID-19 that is suspected to be fake.
“Misinformation and disinformation has serious effects on our lives, we should not ignore it at all,” he said.
Internews, which is running Boresha Habari program said fact checking COVID-19 information will help the public get the truth through social media.
“This initiative will not only reduce misinformation but will also help other news organisations to be careful when publishing their information by following journalism ethics for their news to have impact,” he said.
Mushi said the initiative, which is inclusive, will help eliminate COVID-19 because the public will make decisions such taking serious precaution measures based on credible information.