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China deletes 1.4 million social media posts in crackdown on ‘self-media’ accounts

China deletes 1.4 million social media posts in crackdown on ‘self-media’ accounts

CHINA'S cyberspace regulator said 1.4 million social media posts have been deleted following a two-month probe into alleged misinformation, illegal profiteering, and impersonation of state officials, among other "pronounced problems". The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said in a statement on Friday it had closed 67,000 social media accounts and deleted hundreds of thousands of posts between March 10 and May 22 as part of a broader "rectification" campaign. Since 2021, China has targeted billions of social media accounts in a bid to "clean" its cyberspace and make it easier for authorities to control. The latest crackdown targeted accounts on…
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Punitive laws are failing to curb misinformation in Africa. Time for a rethink

Punitive laws are failing to curb misinformation in Africa. Time for a rethink

MISINFORMATION, best understood as false or misleading information whether or not it was intended to mislead, has long been recognised as a problem worldwide. Together with disinformation, which is spread deliberately to misinform or mislead, it constitutes a key part of the information disorder distorting public debate around the world. PETER CUNLIFFE-JONES, Visiting Researcher & Co-Director Chevening African Media Freedom Fellowship, University of Westminster ALAN FINLAY, Lecturer: Journalism and Media Studies, University of the Witwatersrand ANYA SCHIFFRIN, Director, Technology, Media, and Communications specialization, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University Concern about the effects of misinformation on individuals and…
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Spotting hoaxes: how young people in Africa use cues to spot misinformation online

Spotting hoaxes: how young people in Africa use cues to spot misinformation online

INACCURATE information on social media has become a problem in many countries around the world. Researchers know a fair deal about “fake news” in the global North, but much less about what is happening in the global South, particularly in Africa. CHIKEZIE E. UZUEGBUNAM, Postdoctoral research fellow, University of Cape Town DANI MADRID-MORALES, Assistant Professor in Journalism at the Jack J. Valenti School of Communication, University of Houston DR. EMEKA UMEJEI, Lecturer, Communication Studies, University of Ghana ETSE SIKANKU, Senior Lecturer, Ghana Institute of Journalism GREGORY GONDWE, PhD Media Research and Practice, University of Colorado Boulder HERMAN WASSERMAN, Professor of…
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Funding boost for cities

Funding boost for cities

KIM HARRISBERG FROM sky banners in Cape Town to information campaigns led by transgender people in Rio de Janeiro, new funding announced yesterday will help 18 cities around the world boost COVID-19 vaccine confidence and reach vulnerable groups.  The 18 African, Asian and Latin American countries will each receive $50,000 from the charity Bloomberg Philanthropies to creatively tackle misinformation and logistical bottlenecks in a bid to get more people vaccinated and save lives. "We simply will not end the pandemic anywhere until we end it everywhere," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) which has partnered…
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Some Israeli Arabs, Jerusalem Palestinians wary of coronavirus vaccine

Some Israeli Arabs, Jerusalem Palestinians wary of coronavirus vaccine

AS Israel leads the world in the rate of coronavirus vaccination, some of its Arab citizens and Palestinians in annexed East Jerusalem are regarding the shot with suspicion. In what officials see as a result of misinformation about possible side-effects or supposed malicious properties, turnout for vaccines has been low among Arabs, who make up 21% of Israel's population, and Jerusalem Palestinians. "I will not be vaccinated because I don't know what is in there. No one explained it to me," said Marouf Alyino of East Jerusalem. "Everyone is looking at Facebook and social media, where we hear about someone…
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Misinformation on social media fuels vaccine hesitancy: a global study shows the link

Misinformation on social media fuels vaccine hesitancy: a global study shows the link

VACCINE hesitancy is a severe threat to global health, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). The term refers to the delay in acceptance or the refusal of vaccines, despite the availability of vaccination services. It’s a serious risk to the people who aren’t getting vaccinated as well as the wider community. STEVEN LLOYD WILSON, Assistant Professor of Politics, Brandeis University CHARLES SHEY WIYSONGE, Director, Cochrane South Africa, South African Medical Research Council Vaccine hesitancy is not new. There have been some sceptics ever since vaccination began. Soon after Dr Edward Jenner invented the smallpox vaccine in 1796, rumours started…
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Misinformation could prompt people to turn against COVID-19 vaccines – study

Misinformation could prompt people to turn against COVID-19 vaccines – study

KATE KELLAND  CONSPIRACY theories and misinformation fuel mistrust in vaccines and could push levels that potential COVID-19 vaccines are taken in the United States and Britain below the rates needed to protect communities against the disease, a study has found. The study of 8,000 people in the two countries found that fewer people would "definitely" take a COVID-19 vaccine than the 55% of the population scientists estimate is needed to provide so-called "herd immunity". "Vaccines only work if people take them. Misinformation plays into existing anxieties and uncertainty around new (COVID) vaccines, as well as the new platforms that are…
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