ITWeb Africa | Civic Watch, a Cameroonian advocacy group, will meet this week to discuss strategies to counter online risks to elections as the central African nation prepares to vote next year.
The discussion is part of the #defyhatenow campaign and will focus on best practices for advancing fact-checking in Africa, with guest experts from Kenya, South Africa, and Nigeria sharing their experiences of combating disinformation and online hate speech during elections.
According to Civic Watch, the future elections are likely to be manipulated, resulting in societal instability and bloodshed owing to internet abuse, the introduction of developing technology such as artificial intelligence, and the influence of social media
Ngala Desmond Ngala, president of Civic Watch, said: “Our aim is to propose more effective preventive and reactive responses to guide future efforts to protect electoral integrity and prevent electoral violence.”