Facebook is one of the most used social media platforms in the whole world and it is accused of not appropriately taking steps against the issue of misinformation. This problem has created quite a situation in Africa where the pandemic situation has shown us the negative role of social media regarding discourses on digital platforms. The orthodox governments and media do not have much role in the control of information and as Facebook is expanding at a high rate, it must be more careful.
Facebook Should Follow Stringent Moderation Policies To Prevent Misinformation Issue
Anri van der Spuy who works at Research ICT in Africa as a researcher stated that gradually more and more people are leaving Facebook from the north side of the globe and then the south people are joining in huge numbers. The Sub-Saharan part of Africa contains approximately 1.1 billion people and the number of internet users has increased to 30% which is three times more than ten years ago.
In the views of Toussaint Nothias, the policy of Facebook is quite lenient and they are expanding rapidly just for the sake of having new users. The majority of the population in Africa is young and hence to them, Facebook is an essential social platform along with Instagram, WhatsApp, and others.
There have been false information revolving around the Covid-19 vaccine in Africa which resulted in a feeling of fear among the people and they were hesitant to take vaccines thereafter. Dr. Matshidiso Moeti is the regional director of WHO in Africa and stated that a policy of ‘infodemic’ is going on in Africa which means that a mixture of right and false information are being circulated all over which is creating confusion among the people.
Fake information was spread that black people were safe from the norovirus and even if they get affected, they can be easily cured with herbal tea or steam.
