Around the world, voters during election season have to contend with an influx of information, both accurate and inaccurate.
During what can be volatile times, they have to navigate this flood and make informed decisions.
As fact-checkers, we see an uptick of misinformation ahead of elections, especially on social media. Political parties often use social media because of its reach and, in the push to present themselves favourably to voters, spread misinformation themselves. This makes it even more challenging for voters to make the best choices.
While the quality and accuracy of information shared on social media is concerning, fact-checkers also need to address the core issue of empowering citizens with the necessary skills to engage critically with the information they encounter.
Africa Check, with the support from the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF), provided Kenyan citizens with election-based media literacy skills to better identify misinformation, ahead of the country’s elections on 9 August 2022.
*The views of the above article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Africa Speaks 4 Africa or its editorial team.