Africa's fight against fake news: Who decides what's true?

Misinformation threatens democracy worldwide: An exaggerated WhatsApp message, a manipulated TikTok video or an apparent breaking news alert on Facebook can mislead people in Africa and beyond — particularly in the run-up to elections.

As artificial intelligence is making it increasingly easy to manipulate images, voices and videos, more and more countries are trying to equip their populations with skills to identify and counter fake news.

But are these efforts really about raising awareness, or are certain governments using this fight to control public opinion, silence dissident voices and misguide the populace — from both within and outside of these respective nations?

Journalism lecturer Dani Madrid-Morales at the University of Sheffield believes that African governments must significantly step up their efforts to combat sources of disinformation and misinformation.

He told DW that "there are very few countries — if any — that are actually doing a good job" of beating the influence of fake news.

Meanwhile, he points out that there also are civil society initiatives in various African nations, which help inform people about the dangers of such false narratives.

For instance, in South Africa, organizations like Africa Check and Media Monitoring Africa work together to highlight the impact of fake news on elections. Similar coalitions also exist in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Senegal.

However, these initiatives mostly focus on fighting disinformation during election periods; the rest of the time, they typically lack funding and sustained engagement with civil society to continue to make a change.

There are also deliberate efforts by certain governments not to battle fake news; some let it happen while others engage in deliberately spreading this kind of disinformation.

Madrid-Morales distinguishes between three types of disinformation in this context: There are scams and similar schemes, which some governments, he says, fail to sufficiently fight, leaving people susceptible to financial losses and other problems.

Secondly, he adds that there also are certain foreign influence operations trying to impact public opinion from outside a country and, in many instances, outside of the continent.

Finally, there are political disinformation campaigns which originate from within a country that are intended to deliberately derail impartial views, he explains.

"Governments are particularly interested in the third category," says Madrid-Morales, adding that this is especially prevalent in the Sahel region.

He highlights how in nations like Burkina Faso and Mali, military governments have shut down media outlets, prosecuted journalists and expelled foreign correspondents to silence free speech.

In his view, these junta governments are primarily concerned with preventing negative or false information about themselves from circulating rather than actively recruiting followers.

Foreign powers meanwhile also appear to play a considerable role in shaping public opinion across the continent.

Afrobarometer, a pan-African research network, examined the influence of international actors in terms of their influence across Africa — including those suspected of sharing fake news.

The study found that over 60% of respondents viewed China's political and economic influence positively; this was followed by 52% for the United States.

Both countries have no past colonial history in Africa, although they are now competing for economic gains while focusing otherwise on furthering infrastructure projects — partly to maintain this largely benevolent perception towards them.

However, perceptions of other former colonial powers vary notably in some cases, depending mainly on factors such as the impact of past injustices: For example, in French-speaking countries, only 34% of respondents viewed France's ongoing influence positively.

Komi Amewonou from Afrobarometer told DW that such attitudes are not necessarily the outcome of targeted propaganda campaigns for or against certain nations outside the continent but rather the result of African governments letting negative perceptions simply run their course.

In some countries, there are media development projects trying to educate people and animate them to think for themselves and thus fight sources of fake news and disinformation.

In Ghana, the NGO Penplusbytes runs the "Caravan of Hope" initiative — a project supported by the German development agency GIZ and by DW Akademie.

This mobile campaign brings media literacy training to rural communities through theater, role-playing exercises, public discussions and videos in local languages. The initiative has managed to reach 3,000 people in five districts to date.

The campaign also involves trusted community figures, as studies show that locals most trust people they know personally — particularly traditional village leaders and community representatives.

Rebecca Avusu from Penplusbytes, who helped develop the project, told DW that "information must be verified before people believe it or pass it on. This is particularly important for those without smartphones or with limited formal education."

Initiatives in South Africa take a similar approach: The country is home to Africa Check — one of the continent's best-known fact-checking initiatives.

The organization visits schools and teaches classes how to identify manipulated images, verify sources, and deal with misinformation circulating on WhatsApp groups.

However, Madrid-Morales says that there can be a downside to such media literacy programs as well; pointing to research conducted in South Africa, he highlights that while some young people do become more discerning consumers of information, others eventually lose trust in almost every source, resulting in a complete lack of knowledge about important developments.

In countries elsewhere in Africa, there's greater resistance against such media literacy initiatives — chiefly by their own governments.

In 2026, the International Media and Information Literacy Institute (IMILI) was opened in the Nigerian capital Abuja under the auspices of UNESCO, with a mission to promote research, training and international cooperation across media literacy initiatives.

This came after the Nigerian government announced that it aimed to play a leading international role in Africa in the fight against fake news; however, civil rights groups say the state often blurs the line between genuinely battling disinformation and silencing public dissent in the country.

In Kenya, there are similar concerns: The Media Council of Kenya has been tasked with supporting journalists and boosting fact-checking initiatives.

However, its scope of operations is limited, as the organization abides by the country's laws to remain in operation — in particular legislation supposedly designed to target the spreading of false information.

Conversely, these laws have come under increased scrutiny, as they can also be abused to silence views against the government.

Madrid-Morales says that in such contexts, there need to be independent oversight bodies to ensure that people do not refrain from expressing themselves publicly for fear of reprisal.

Meanwhile in Mozambique, the media institute MISA has also launched a series of media initiatives such as MISACheck. The program is designed to train young journalists and social activists in fact-checking techniques.

Olivia Massango, the vice-president of MISA, says that the efforts of such civil society groups may seem like a drop in the ocean; Massango is particularly critical of how state authorities deal with misinformation.

"When something becomes inconvenient, the government ... invokes public interest, but ultimately often ends up protecting only what suits it," she told DW.

"Combating disinformation must not mean criminalizing opinions, criticism or journalistic work," she warns.

More and more African nations meanwhile are turning to Europe in hopes of adopting useful mechanisms to fight fake news.

Morocco and Senegal are among the examples where proposed disinformation legislation is widely inspired by EU standards. Madrid-Morales, however, stresses that while following strong EU legislation in the battle against disinformation can be a success, there also need to be independent oversight and enforcement mechanisms to make them work.

In the cases of Senegal and Morocco, these are yet to be established, he explains, stressing that both nations have repeatedly had to deal with various forms of political instability influenced by fake news.

Rebecca Avusu says she is also concerned about such efforts maintaining loopholes to suit governments if and as needed: "We do not want laws designed to combat disinformation to become instruments for silencing people who question government decisions or express legitimate opinions," Avusu warns.