Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) Board Chairperson Stanley Khaila says fake news poses a serious threat to the development of Malawi.
Khaila made the remarks on Monday in Lilongwe when he opened a three-day meeting with the media to discuss fake news, its negative impact and consequences.
Macra Board Chairperson Dr Stanley Khaila speaking on fakes news, its negative impact and consequences
Malawi Government has access to informal law but the implementation has left a lot to be desired with public officials still concealing information thereby leaving everything to speculation.
Khaila said fake news is about spreading misinformation to the public which includes all forms of false, inaccurate ie misleading information designed, presented and promoted to intentionally cause public harm or profit.
“Fake news stands as a great threat to democracy, free debate and way of life,” he said.
What is scarer is that fake news has the potential to manipulate the democratic process including elections, Khaila observed.
Macra Director General Daud Suleman, as a regulator they want to combat fake news
He said reputations have been damaged by the media especially on social media where fake news is rife on platforms like facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, YouTube among others.
Macra believes media if equipped with knowledge can play a critical role in media literacy.
Khaila said one of the major interventions in countering fake news is being media literate and having the capacity to distinguish between fake and real news.
Macra Director General Daud Suleman said there is need to combat the spread of fake news and build better content for the nation.
“We need to have a well informed nation that is able to know good data and good information and therefore make decisions,” he said.
Suleman said his body is expecting to see better content about economy, people and Malawi large.
