Prime
Acknowledge impact of disinformation projects
What you need to know:
The issue: Disinformation
Our view: A set of moral principles rather than prescriptive laws would therefore do the country a world of good. This is especially so since what is ethical often, if not always, transcends the law.
Revelations by a recent BBC investigation of evolving forms of digital malpractice that manifest in, among others, the use of automated disinformation on social media with trolls and the seeding of fabricated online narratives should worry us all.
The investigation invites questions as to what lengths state functionaries will go to manipulate online debate. And they appear to be great lengths. Previously, Meta—the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp—spotlighted the Government Citizen Interaction Centre (GCIC) for using multiple fake avatars developed courtesy of cutting-edge software to profit from lies and distortion.
The BBC investigation raises fresh questions around if the government agency is propping up a disinformation campaign on another popular social media platform—X (formerly known as Twitter). Such attempts to blur the lines of truth and mistruth have the impact, perhaps unintentionally but not unsuccessfully, of creating a post-truth world.
We strongly believe that digital malpractices couched in disinformation are setting us on a dark path. They are gnawing at the goodwill necessary for democratic debate and consensus. In fact, such is the havoc being wreaked on democracy that minority voices risk being silenced not least because online platforms have been turned into a hostile and scary place.
Uganda, which notoriously has a young—if impressionable—population, risks running into another kind of trouble. Most of the previously mentioned young people that spend a disproportionate part of their time on online spaces end up with a flawed picture of the state of knowledge. They consequently make vital decisions basing off inaccurate presentations and representations.
It is against this backdrop that we urge responsible authorities to view the problem confronting the nation (and it cannot be understated due to its sheer size) as a moral one. Our stance on regulating digital discourse in the grand scheme of things (i.e. freedom of speech) pretty much remains unchanged.
We hold that since the nation is dealing with, for all intents and purposes, a moral problem, the appreciation that this is every inch a normative science of conduct takes precedence. A set of moral principles rather than prescriptive laws would therefore do the country a world of good. This is especially so since what is ethical often, if not always, transcends the law. In the face of unregulated disinformation, ethics can help us remove growing grey areas.
Such a set of moral principles by which digital natives in the country are bound can help us determine the right thing to do. This public oversight, typified by self-legislation and self-enforcement, can go a long way in creating more accountable online environments.
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- To be accurate and fair in all we do.
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Further, we ask that we be informed whenever you feel that we have fallen short in our attempt to keep these commitments.
