Lead-up to Dec 7 polls: Let’s fight fake news - IGP tells traditional media
The Ghana Police Service has called for the collaboration of the traditional media to stop misinformation, disinformation and fake news, particularly as the country heads for the general election.
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The Police High Command said those three vices could jeopardise the security of the country for which the media must work together with the police to nip in the bud.
The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr George Akuffo Dampare, who made the call, said the rising trend of misinformation, disinformation and fake news had implications for the security of the state, especially as the country headed for the polls, and must be curtailed and rooted out with dispatch.
“We must work together and find a way of dealing with this matter, else the people who don’t wish this country well, even including some Ghanaians who have not seen war before and yet want to see that there is confusion, will use that as a medium of creating confusion for selfish interests which are demonic,” the IGP said.
Engagement
Speaking at the Police Headquarters in Accra last Thursday during an engagement with the Editor, Graphic, Theophilus Yartey, and a team of editors from the Daily Graphic, the Inspector General said there were countries where such vices and incidents had been used for destruction, which meant they should not be allowed to fester against “the security of this only country that we all have, especially during this election year.”
Dr Dampare, whose team included the Director-General, Adminstration, Commissioner of Police (COP) Christian Tetteh Yohuno; the Director-General, Finance, COP Michael Nketia Frempong; Director-General, Criminal Investigation Department, COP Faustina Andoh-Kwofie, and the Director-General, Operations, COP Mohammed Fuseini Suraji, cited the recent attack on the Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency in Accra which was based on fake news.
“Looking at the recent incident at Ayawaso West Wuogon where there was fake news and misinformation to the effect that one political party has some 200 people in a house registering people in the night and then another political party organised, went there and attacked them, it turns out there is no truth in it,” the IGP stated.
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Dr Dampare said the police would act swiftly with such incidents to engender trust in their work and ensure the safety of the public and, therefore, called on the public, especially the traditional media, to support that fight.
The discussions with the Graphic team centred on how the Ghana Police can deepen partnership with the media, especially the autonomously run state-owned newspaper, to secure the peace in the country before, during and after the elections. They form part of a wider and regular engagement instituted by the Police Management Board (POMAB).
Other POMAB members present at the engagement were the Director-General, Legal and Prosecutions, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Benjamin Osei Addae; the Director-General, Human Resource, COP Daniel Afriyie; the Director, Public Affairs, ACP Grace Ansah-Akrofi, and the Chief Staff Officer, Chief Superintendent Kingsley Aboagye.
Context
During the discussion, misinformation, disinformation and fake news came up as a serious security concern for the police, who have taken a strong stance against the rising menace.
Misinformation is false or inaccurate information deliberately intended to deceive, whereas in disinformation perpetrators orchestrate adversarial activity through strategic deceptions and media manipulations to advance political, military or commercial goals.
Fake news, which thrives on the Internet and social media, are false stories that appear to be news, usually created to influence political views or as a prank.
Just at the weekend, there was a flyer circulating on social media that the Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, was scheduled to hold a press engagement at 7 p.m. yesterday. It turned out to be fake news.
Last Wednesday, former President John Dramani Mahama was in Moscow, Russia, for the launch of the Russian language translation of his memoir, "My First Coup d'Etat and Other Stories from the Lost Decades of Africa”.
A section of the media put out information that he was in Moscow to seek assistance from the government of Russia for the 2024 elections.
The former President responded to the allegations as “misinformation and disinformation”. The IGP himself was recently in the news that he had been relieved of his post, an allegation that turned out as fake news.
Act 755
On False communications, Section 76 (1) of the Electronic Communications Act, 2008 (Act 775) states that “A person who by means of electronic communications service, knowingly sends a communication which is false or misleading and likely to prejudice the efficiency of life saving service or to endanger the safety of any person, ship, aircraft, vessel or vehicle commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of not more than three thousand penalty units or to a term of imprisonment of not more than five years or both”.
Subsection 2 states that “A person is taken to know that a communication is false or misleading if that person did not take reasonable steps to find out whether the communication was false, misleading, reckless or fraudulent.”
Assist police with information
Dr Dampare said the traditional media, which boasted credibility and a high degree of putting out accurate information, should assist the police with information and also suggest deterrent measures to stem the selfish practice.
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The IGP reiterated the position of the Ghana Police that the best way of solving security challenges was intelligence and, therefore, urged the media to share information and intelligence with the police as their third eye.
As part of the outcome of the discussions, the Daily Graphic will make available its platforms, both print and digital, to the Ghana Police Service to disseminate key facts and information, educative materials and deterrent measures it had taken to the public.
Editor
The Editor, who was accompanied by the News Editor, Samuel Doe Ablordeppey; the Digital Editor, Enoch Darfah Frimpong; the Chief Sub Editor, Zakaria Alhassan, among others, said as a national media house, deepening relationship with the Ghana Police Service was paramount to the benefit of the state and the citizenry.
Mr Yartey said having been in operation for 74 years, longer than when the country attained independence and became a republican state, the Daily Graphic and its sister brands and channels owed it a duty to contribute to securing the country’s peace and development.
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Commenting on misinformation, disinformation and fake news, Mr Yartey explained that the Daily Graphic had learnt through its long years of practice that “sometimes, what does not come out is very important as well” and was, therefore, careful about what it published.
“You must, in the interest of the peace and coherence, be mindful about what comes out,” the Editor, Graphic, who also went into the engagement along with the Special Correspondent, Suleman Mustapha, and the acting Assistant Photo Editor, Edna Salvo-Kotey, added.
He gave an assurance to the Ghana Police that the national media organisation would work with them to enhance the relationship, not as a public relations newsletter, but to shape opinions, public discourse and tell stories with the accurate facts and information the way they should be.