Misinformation, disinformation, and online hate speech significantly fuel violence and conflict in South Sudan. A major factor in the spread of false information is the lack of official channels for verifying information from government sources. With no clear protocols, journalists often rely on unverified sources or officials who may not be qualified to respond.
To address this information gap, Journalists for Human Rights (JHR) and South Sudan’s media regulatory body, the Media Authority, held a media literacy workshop from August 14-15 in Juba. The event brought together 60 journalists from print, broadcast, and digital media, along with 40 government officials from agencies and ministries such as Education, Foreign Affairs, the Office of the Vice President, and the Ministry of Defence. Participants discussed strategies to mitigate, respond to, and combat misinformation, disinformation, and hate speech in South Sudan.
A key topic was the need for a centralized social media account to share verified government information with the public. As Engineer Napoleon Adok, Director General of the National Communication Authority (NCA), noted, “There’s no single website for journalists to access changes happening in the government. Most government officials’ Facebook accounts aren’t even up to date. We need to streamline our government presence on social media because a lack of verified accounts leads journalists to quote fake sources.”
According to the Media Authority, journalists aren’t solely to blame for the spread of misinformation and disinformation in South Sudan. As internet access has expanded, social media content creators, influencers, and citizen journalists have emerged, often producing content based more on opinion and hearsay than fact. To help distinguish professional journalists from bloggers and influencers, the Media Authority emphasizes the importance of accreditation under South Sudan’s media laws and regulations.
“Without a license to practice, you can’t practice. Please encourage your colleagues to come and be accredited. You are discussing a topic that’s important not only to your profession but to society at large. The pressure to be first can sometimes overshadow the responsibility to be accurate,” said Deputy Minister of Information, Communication, Telecommunication, and Postal Services, Honorable Jacob Maiju Korok. He added that accreditation also gives journalists access to official information and allows them to participate in government conferences and gatherings.
The Media Authority sought to ease concerns from journalists worried that the accreditation process might be used to silence media outlets critical of South Sudanese officials. “Access to information is a fundamental right. Journalists, as fact-checkers in this era of misinformation and disinformation, play a critical role, and the Media Authority is here to support your growth and development,” said Elijah Alier Kuai, Managing Director of the Media Authority.
At the end of the two-day workshop, government authorities reported a greater understanding of the impact of misinformation, disinformation, and hate speech on the country, as well as their role in educating the public to combat these issues. Officials from various ministries and agencies, particularly the Ministry of Information and the National Communication Authority, committed to developing a functional social media system to counter misinformation and provide credible updates on government activities. The National Communication Authority highlighted the need to separate individual accounts from official accounts of professional institutions.
Since the August workshops, JHR has begun collaborating with 10 government offices to streamline and verify their social media accounts with support from the National Communication Authority (NCA) in partnership with Meta.
An additional 60 government officials have received training on misinformation, disinformation, and hate speech to help them effectively fact-check information before responding to press inquiries. The spokesperson for the NSS benefited from this training and successfully debunked misinformation in a recent case involving the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, who made false claims about political harassment when he was barred from travel when, in fact, it was a case of improper leave.
JHR’s South Sudan country lead, Mary Ajith Goch, is thrilled that JHR continues to facilitate dialogue between journalists and the government on issues impacting press freedom. She assures that JHR will keep working with the Media Authority of South Sudan to foster these discussions, aiming to improve the government’s relationship with the media and promote access to information to prevent the spread of misinformation and disinformation.
Mary encouraged journalists to uphold professional ethics while reflecting on the goals of the workshop series. “JHR is pleased to collaborate with the Media Authority to host this event, which has two main objectives. The first is to engage government officials on their role in mitigating misinformation, disinformation, and hate speech while promoting ethnic cohesion in South Sudan. The second is to inform journalists about the importance of accreditation, its criteria, and the associated benefits for their career development.”
This workshop was organized as part of the Global Affairs Canada-funded project Tackling Misinformation and Disinformation through Media to Promote Peace Building in South Sudan. The project takes a multi-pronged approach that includes increasing media literacy among the population, enhancing media coverage that promotes social cohesion, and improving information sharing and transparency from the government.
