Fighting misinformation

Desinfox Ivory Coast

Ivory Coast
Désinfox Côte d'Ivoire CFI

Goals

Contribute to the #En Ligne Tous Responsables campaign as part of Côte d'Ivoire's national strategy for a respectful and secure digital environment
Raise journalists' awareness of the dangers of cyberspace and strengthen their ability to make responsible and rational use of social media in their work
Raise awareness among young people of the effects of mis- and disinformation, and train them in how to combat it
525 671 €
24months
240Trained professionnals

A project

Supported by

In partnership with

Polaris-Asso

Presentation

Although mis- and disinformation in Africa existed long before the social media era, social networks have accelerated and amplified this phenomenon. In Côte d'Ivoire, where the majority of the population now get their news online, there are increasing risks to social cohesion, particularly in a country scarred by the 2010 crisis. 
Faced with these challenges, Côte d'Ivoire's Ministry of Communication has launched a national strategy for a respectful and secure digital environment with the #En Ligne Tous Responsables (Collective Online Responsibility) campaign. 
This national strategy is based on five (5) pillars: 
· Raising awareness and education, to inform and educate people about the dangers of mis- and disinformation and how to protect themselves against it.
· Identification and monitoring, to create effective systems to quickly identify mis- and disinformation and monitor its development.
· Prevention and capacity building, with the aim of building institutions’ and individuals’ capacity to prevent the spread of mis- and disinformation.
· Reacting and correcting, to react quickly and effectively to incidents of mis- and disinformation and re-establish the truth.
· Côte d'Ivoire's international reputation.

This is the background behind Désinfox Côte d'Ivoire, a project based on media and information education (MIE), to train journalists and raise awareness among young people. As part of Pillars 1 and 2 of the #En Ligne Tous Responsables campaign, it aims to raise awareness among journalists working in traditional and online media of the dangers of the internet, and to enhance their skills on how to use social media wisely in their work. 
At the same time, it is developing an educational MIE training and awareness programme aimed at young girls and boys in schools and universities in a number of towns and cities that have suffered unrest as a result of mis- and disinformation campaigns.

Project beneficiaries

  • 240 journalists from 80 of the country’s media outlets
  • The entire editorial staff of 80 of the country's media outlets
  • 20 young people from civil society organisations
  • 15,000 young Ivorians, including 10,000 in secondary and higher education
Project manager
Nathalie KONATE

Actions

Training journalists in the challenges of verifying online information

  • Training 240 journalists in 20 localities in Ivory Coast.
  • Brainstorming workshop and creation of posters illustrating the principles of making good use of social media.
  • Remote coaching for the journalists who have been trained and appointed by their media outlet to pass on the lessons learned.

Media and information literacy training for young people at schools and who are members of civil society organisations

  • Training and awareness-raising in secondary schools and universities 
  • Managing and producing an action and advocacy course