BACKGROUND
Within the wider context of information disorder, campaigns based on misinformation, disinformation and malinformation can be used to delegitimize institutions and limit democratic transformation of developing regions of the world. This is particularly relevant considering the growing difficulty in sorting fact from fiction which is impacting citizens’ trust in democracy. Such campaigns are often successful and exacerbated due to other factors, such as a lack of access to reliable information, poor economic circumstances and reductions in human rights, as well as weak and malleable institutions. Therefore, attempts to tackle this issue must necessarily go beyond purely legal, technological and digital literacy aspects.
Information disorder in the Sahel is threatening the social fabric of multi-ethnic societies. While the problem is not new, the current phase is particularly challenging, given the scope of the manipulation, the ease with which information can be shared, the multiplicity of techniques adopted to do so, and the proliferation of actors - individuals, state and non-state actors, foreign governments and specialized companies. Social media content is not confined to the internet. Recognizing and understanding the ways in which it spreads, infiltrates and influences conventional media and word-of-mouth communication is vital to an improved understanding of information ecosystems throughout the Sahel region where social media can act as a “pavement radio,” with members of communities gathering round a single phone together.
In short, this increasingly blurred overlap means that content moves between online and offline spaces in ways that are not always possible to track. However, it is critical that they be recognized, given how they influence and reinforce each other. For example, fake news — often centred on ethnic and religious identity — has been influential in shaping narratives in the Sahel.