At the close of 2022, Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority organised a two-day conference for media practitioners and managers on curbing fake news.
MACRA believes it is everyone’s responsibility to think twice before pressing a button to push content on social media.
In MACRA’s Director General (Daud Suleman) words, “Online never forgets.” He then implored journalists and extended the same to online users to be responsible before pushing content online which might turn out to be damaging to others.
Recently Maranatha Private Schools which is renowned for motivating students both in public and private schools to aim for academic excellence and rewarding the most outstanding students has fallen victim to fake news.
Maranatha Girls Academy is offering K500, 000 to trace Sheilla Favoured Banda for spreading “false” information about cholera on social media against the school.
The institution publicly expressed “grave concern” that some anonymous individuals are “trying to tarnish the image of the school” by claiming that some students have had diarrhoea and vomiting due to a cholera outbreak according to a statement from Headteacher, Aaron Banda.
Banda said, “Since schools in Blantyre reopened on 17 January following the directive from the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the Presidential Taskforce on Cholera and Covid-19, the school has been following all guidelines and no student has fallen sick. “Those spreading such malicious posts have other reasons hence we need help to track them down.”
In the media sensitisation training, legal experts warned that the law is very clear and defamation has consequences.
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