Africa Epicenter for False Social Media News Against Covid-19 Vaccinations

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Strangely, influencers in social media are spreading fake news about the Covid-19 spread and this is influencing people’s minds against the vaccination.

Fake news about Covid-19 vaccines has played a major role in preventing people from trusting the vaccine process can save their lives. Since the start of the pandemic, rumors and conspiracy theories have been rife, unsettling many people and making vaccination campaigns more difficult.

Religious leaders are saying that vaccines can affect fertility, breastfeeding abilities or lead to death too. The WHO has found that the majority of fake news is spreading in North America, Australia, and Russia and elsewhere in Europe. From there, they also reach African social media channels.

The global health body is fighting this kind of misinformation on the continent of 1.3 billion people. Since December 2020, the WHO has been working with 20 partners in Africa. They formed the Africa Infodemic Response Alliance, whose aim is to debunk dangerous myths about the pandemic and COVID vaccines.

It was also not uncommon for economic interests to be behind dubious reports with which providers wanted to sell miracle cures for Covid-19 or other diseases. In Ghana, a similarly doubtful message recently went viral in a video that was viewed 19,000 times on Facebook. Misinformation is huge in Kenya and other African countries too.

In Kenya, spreading misinformation and hate comments online has been a criminal offense since 2018, with the threat of a fine and jail time. Media agencies are requesting journalists to be vigilant and check every message for credibility. Social media should not be used for spreading false information which usually comes from journalists themselves. The work of fact-checkers could just provide people with the right information to aid the fight against the pandemic. 

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