Adam’s Kaled Ouedraogo, editor-in-chief, and Samiratou Guiré-Ilboudo, coordinator of the humanitarian programme “Faso Yafa”, present Studio Yafa’s work in combating disinformation and supporting displaced people in Burkina Faso.
What role does disinformation play in Burkina Faso’s current media landscape? What responses is Studio Yafa trying to provide?
Adam’s Kaled Ouedraogo: On social media, disinformation is so widespread and so well coordinated that it is hard to believe it is the result of chance. For example, several series of messages have spread false news about political developments in Côte d’Ivoire. You can tell there is real work behind it, with credible, very well-made fake images. We also see videos circulating of well-developed, brightly lit streets, supposedly located in one country when the footage was actually filmed in another. In Burkina Faso, Facebook is the most widely used social network. WhatsApp is also increasingly used, especially thanks to its voice-message sharing feature, which makes it easier to spread content among people with low literacy levels, particularly in rural areas.
In response to this situation, we created an audio fact-checking segment broadcast every Wednesday, “Yafa Vesgo”. Vesgo means “to investigate, to seek to understand” in Mooré, the most widely spoken language in Burkina Faso. We give listeners the tools they need to verify information. We tell them: before liking or sharing, you need to make sure that the content of the post is actually true. We produce “Yafa Vesgo” with the fact-checking media outlet Fasocheck. We are also currently working on creating video fact-checking segments for distribution on social media.
Before liking or sharing,
you need to make sure
that the content of the post is actually true.
Burkina Faso has been facing a crisis marked by terrorist attacks and conflicts, which has resulted in thousands of deaths and a very large number of internally displaced people since 2015. Does disinformation particularly affect communities impacted by the crisis?
Adam’s Kaled Ouedraogo: Very often, when false information circulates, there is an intention to manipulate. This can only harm everyone who absorbs this disinformation. But people who are less accustomed to news media can be more easily deceived, because they generally believe that what appears on social media is true.
Samiratou Guiré-Ilboudo: Displaced people are sometimes exposed to harmful information claiming that they need to pay in order to receive assistance. Most often, this comes from ill-intentioned individuals posing as state social services officers or humanitarian organisation staff, who take advantage of these populations’ vulnerability. “Faso Yafa”, the humanitarian programme I coordinate, advises displaced people not to pay and to go directly to the relevant assistance service to obtain accurate information.
It is a weekly 30-minute programme that provides useful information to internally displaced people. When they arrive in a host community, they do not know where to obtain emergency shelter, which NGOs to contact for what kind of assistance, or how to access state support. “Faso Yafa” produces programmes on these issues. Once a month, the programme is recorded as close as possible to the field in nine regions of the country, in order to meet people, listen to them and help guide them.
We address the psychosocial support available to displaced people, inviting psychologists who speak with them and provide practical information. After listening to the programmes, many displaced people turn to health facilities because they are living through traumatic situations. They can no longer sleep or work; they have lost their will to live because of all the atrocities they have witnessed. Because it is produced locally, the information broadcast by “Faso Yafa” helps both to curb disinformation and to provide a real service to displaced people.
This piece is taken from the 17th issue of Mediation, ‘Information: a humanitarian defence against hybrid warfare’, which you’ll find attached at the top of this article or here.