The scourge of mis- and disinformation is about to become even more conspicuous, as campaigning for Namibia’s Presidential and National Assembly elections is approaching its business end. Information deputy minister Modestus Amutse said the country faces challenges in regulating social media in Namibia, where mis- and disinformation mostly spreads because most social media companies are not within their jurisdiction.
“This limits the government’s direct ability to enforce regulations on these platforms. However, social media companies have established online policies and community standards that can be utilised to protect users, and hold individuals accountable for abusive behaviour on their platforms. In addition, it is worth noting that the Namibian media industry is independent, free, pluralistic and self-regulatory, thus making censorship impossible,” he said.
Amutse went on to say that in many instances, fake news emanates from social media, where so-called citizen journalism is rife, with members of the public not verifying or corroborating the news content they share or providing context.
He admitted there are no specific laws in the country dedicated to regulating social media.
“Our mandate, as a ministry, requires that we create awareness and public education on the dangers of social ills, including misinformation, disinformation, defamation, hate speech and cyberbullying… Election periods are particularly sensitive times during which the ministry closely monitors trends and online behaviour to ensure that Namibians do not fall victim to those who seek to abuse our sacred values of freedom of expression and media freedom,” he added.
He reiterated a recent media statement by minister Emma Theofelus, who encouraged Namibians to use social media platforms responsibly ahead of the national polls.
“Given Namibia’s unique environment, the ministry emphasises that Namibians, including the media, are always encouraged to exercise caution when using digital platforms, and to operate within the confines of the constitution. The media in Namibia is guided by a code of ethics under the auspices of the Editor’s Forum of Namibia (EFN). Additionally, the media is led and governed by an independent body, such as the EFN, in line with the Namibian Constitution’s principles of media freedom,” he explained.
In July, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) adopted a new Model Law on Elections.
The model law aims to standardise and improve electoral processes across SADC member states, ensuring free, fair and transparent elections. The law also advocates for the prohibition of hate speech, bias and propaganda by both private and public media.
Regulation
New Era approached several institutions and media industry experts for their take on fake news around election periods.
Journalist and researcher Frederico Links, known for his work on the impact of social media on politics in Namibia, proposed that the government introduce comprehensive media information and digital literacy through primary and secondary education curricula as a long-term solution to the spread of fake news.
Amutse said the ministry responsible for information management and dissemination within the government must work in partnership with all stakeholders to promote digital literacy and ethical media use.
“To this end, we have developed Government Online Communication Guidelines, which serve as a blueprint for the government online communication to ensure consistency and standardisation across all government offices, ministries and agencies (OMAs), regional councils and local authorities. This framework will help OMAs, regional councils and local authorities institutionalise best practices in digital communication,” he outlined.
He added: “Given the inherent complexities in regulating social media, it is essential to work together as social partners to educate the public on responsible online behaviour, critical thinking and discerning information”.
He further said the governments’ responses to fake news on the African continent tend to be heavy-handed, with laws used to suppress legitimate political expression in many countries.
“In more severe instances, such laws and others have been used to justify internet shutdowns over the last few years. We have to recognise that in many countries, the largest spreaders of fake news are government actors – and in such instances, fake news by State actors has been used to counter media and civil society allegations of human rights violations or corruption by State actors or politicians. I state this to emphasise that State-driven interventions to counter fake news have proven problematic for Africans. So, I, like many other activists, journalists and human rights defenders across the continent, am not comfortable with governments making laws to police or regulate speech,” he said.
Links noted he would rather see the government introduce comprehensive media, information and digital literacy modules in the education curricula from primary through senior secondary education.
“That approach, as research and experience from other countries show, has proven effective in fighting fake news. But that’s a long-term solution, whereas we need to deal with the problem right now. Whatever we do has to be per our constitutional order, so it’s a difficult question of what sort of interventions would be appropriate without violating people’s right to free expression,” he explained.
Toivo Ndjebela, the editor of Namibian Sun, suggested one way of combating fake news, especially in the absence of laws, is for media institutions to establish working relationships with fact-check organisations.
“Such collaboration could entail detecting fake news in earnest, and exposing it as such in the media, including their digital platforms. Where such fake news contains elements such as defamation of character, which are crimes under our current laws, those behind it can be identified and charged for prosecution. Citizen journalism can also be a useful tool to expose fake news, and identify those behind it,” he suggested.
Peter Denk, head of news at Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), stated that the Ethical Journalism Network has defined fake news as “information deliberately fabricated and published to deceive and mislead others into believing falsehoods or doubting verifiable facts.
“Fake news, or disinformation, is not a new phenomenon. The difference nowadays is that it can spread so fast through social media, and sometimes also on traditional media. In elections, due to the fast-changing and dynamic nature of election news, the need to counter such news is even more paramount because false and misleading content can shape public opinion,” he said.
Denk continued: “The importance of media and information literacy is, therefore, also crucial so that consumers of media become more critical about what they consume before becoming part of a tsunami of fake news by simply forwarding disinformation. Campaigns to make people more media literate should also be stepped up during elections, while traditional media should be quick to counter such disinformation with the correct facts”.
The manager for corporate communication and marketing at the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN), De Wet Siluka, said the commission has a communication strategy plan adopted during their five-year strategic plan in 2020.
The information ministry said they will make use of existing laws, such as the Communications Act, Criminal Procedure Act and the Cybersecurity Strategy Awareness Creation Plan within the confines of Chapter 3 of the Namibian Constitution to monitor those who abuse freedom of expression.
-ljason@nepc.com.na
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