EDITORIAL: Fake news in desperate times

Forces of hostile intent are again hard at work concocting fake news. The danger with such reckless behaviour is that it can poison the minds of innocent people.This kind of behaviour by forces of darkness deliberately causes havoc within a country where literacy levels - especially in the space of digital media - are still very low. It is this low level of understanding of digital media, compounded by the disruptive arrival of artificial intelligence, that makes Namibia one of the ripest grounds for disinformation.Very few Namibians are capable of making a distinction between genuine and fake news, especially on social media where nearly no regulation exists. The silly season of political campaigning has worsened this. Yesterday, the Landless People’s Movement (LPM) had to put out a statement distancing itself from a fake audio clip that falsely portrays its presidential candidate Bernadus Swartbooi as making tribalistic and racially offensive remarks about the leader of the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), Panduleni Itula. Architects of fake news pounce on this level of ignorance to advance their filthy agenda and destabilise an otherwise tranquil country.Fake news comes in different packages. In Kenya, the mainstream media was at the forefront of disinformation that exacerbated the view that the 2007 election was rigged. As a result, 1 300 people died in the ensuing skirmishes.Similarly, disinformation fanned the flames of the Rwandan genocide of 1994. Namibia has to be careful of the dangers of fake news and the power it has to plunge this country into dangers that we are scared to even begin to contemplate.

EDITORIAL: Fake news in desperate times

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Namibian Sun 2025-08-05

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EDITORIAL: Fake news in desperate times

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Namibian Sun 2025-08-05

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