The spectrum of the recent violence in Senegal continues to loom large. And given that election periods in Africa - with Senegal moving towards a presidential election - are infamous for being times of unrest, caution must be must be the order of the day. With this in mind, Meta in partnership with the Timbuktu Institute organized a workshop on content moderation and the fight against and the fight against misinformation. An opportunity for various members of civil society to exchange views on the main risks and trends in harmful content during the election period.

Provide the resources needed to make optimal use of the platforms, especially during election period. This is the main objective of Meta, for whom it is "important to exchange with civil society players on the use of social networks and, above all, on the moderation of content moderation in a period prone to hate speech and disinformation", explains Olivia Tchamba, public policy manager at Meta. It is in this context that these exchanges respond to a need in terms of tools and, above all, awareness of the need to combat against disinformation. And all this with Meta, which "does not set itself up as a judge of truth, but, after sometimes heated exchanges with its experts, to regulate and prevent hate speech Haja Bally, Content Policy at Meta. "In today's context of risk and uncertainty, misinformation continues to be a real threat to stability and threat to stability and social cohesion, especially in the current regional environment”, reminds Adji Awa S., representative of the Timbuktu Institute. 

Election period, a time of heightened risk

If certain types of content are harmful in times of relative calm, their pernicious potential is in times of relative calm, their pernicious potential is heightened during election periods. With these threats in mind that it is important to shed some light on the issues in question. These were the subject of a round-table discussion. According to one of the panelists, Ousseynou Mbaye, founding member of the Association d'Aide aux Enfants Démunis (AAED), a moderation of the content. "The recent violence in Senegal can be explained by, among other things that we haven't been able to use the right words with young people," he laments. Advocating efforts in the direction of better general digital literacy, he continues: "I have a formula from a marabout who said the word in four beats. This means that that the person speaking must be authorized to speak, that the person must be competent to to speak about the subject, that the time chosen to speak is appropriate, and that the person speaks to the right people. the right audience".

President of the Réseau Paix et Sécurité pour les Femmes de l'Espace Cedeao (REPSFECO), Diago Ndiaye, compares Senegal to an incense burner. "The country is sitting on embers. Indeed, incense gives off a pleasant smell in the room, but down below there's fire ready to burn. The events of 2021 are a warning that we must take the full measure of," she warns. For her, "it's young people and women, who are generally the most susceptible, on whom we must insist on raising awareness, in addition to citizenship education." A position shared by Ousseynou Mbaye, who suggests "revisiting our concept of patriotism, promoting the culture of peace, while organizing training on education and digital security." And it's election time, says Ms. Ndiaye, "where candidates sometimes engage in verbal jousting verbal where violence is quite present". 

The electoral process underway in Senegal has given rise to the "SaytuSen2024" campaign, inspired by the Wolof word "saytu", meaning "to watch over, scrutinize, verify". Indeed, to combat misinformation, "journalists, Africa Check and civil society players have formed this alliance, with the aim of evaluating and verifying the veracity of the claims made by Abdoulaye Seck, head of Amnesty International. This type of initiatives, he points out, is proof that disinformation is not just the concern of a certain but can also involve the contribution of citizens. Indeed, the practice of fact-checking could soon come up against new challenges, "with the irruption of AI, which will make the task ever more complicated", notes a participant in the audience.

For better digital literacy

"Establish policy community standards that define what is and isn't allowed on Meta platforms, define tools and guidelines for users to empower them, collaboration and programs with experts as well as partners to continue improving policies". According to Eva Sow Ebion, head of Meta's Sub-Saharan Africa programs, this is roughly the company's approach to integrity and digital literacy. 

On the awareness-raising front, there's the "NoFalseNewsZone" campaign, part of a comic strip created to combat misinformation. Dedicated to French-speaking Africa, this fact-checking incubation and mentoring program aims to support the growth of local media, which fight misinformation. The program took place in five countries: Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. Meta also launched a campaign on social networks and radio, an awareness campaign on misinformation and the fight against online hate speech, in the run-up to the presidential election. One of the objectives of this campaign, among others, is to demonstrate the merits and benefits of participation of young people in the electoral process.