James Okong’o, a 2025 Nieman Fellow, was until recently a digital investigation journalist for Agence France-Presse (AFP), covering Anglophone African countries from his base in Nairobi, Kenya.
It is not uncommon in Africa today for public figures to quietly retract debunked claims, or even to issue public apologies.
Take, for example, the apology issued by police in Nairobi, Kenya, after a colleague at Agence France-Presse and I uncovered their use of unrelated photos from past protests to hunt down individuals linked to violent anti-government demonstrations in 2023.
Such an official mea culpa would have been unthinkable in the time before journalistic fact-checking became an integral part of news operations in several African countries. But these verification efforts are increasingly in danger of being eliminated at news organizations struggling to remain viable amid funding and staffing cuts.
The recent announcement by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg that the company would stop using third-party fact-checkers on its platforms in the United States may have a serious impact on fact-checking operations in that country. If this happens in Africa, it could literally cost lives.
For example, Iin Nigeria, Kemi Busari, a journalist with the fact-checking organization Dubawa, investigated a quack doctor involved in the large-scale distribution of an herbal medicine falsely advertised as a cure for malaria and other illnesses.
The investigation revealed that the so-called doctor had been selling hundreds of bottles monthly and using social media to spread misleading claims. These false assertions were discouraging people — especially parents of young children — from seeking medical attention in hospitals or using modern treatments. Alarmingly, the herbal concoction was packaged in containers that displayed two falsified approval numbers from Nigeria’s food and drug agency, as well as a legitimate but expired registration number.
Busari's investigation, which later won the International Fact-Checking Network’s Impact award, uncovered failures in Nigeria’s regulatory regime and revealed serious health risks associated with the product. Laboratory analyses conducted by a pharmacology specialist confirmed that the concoction was ineffective in treating malaria or any other human ailments. Instead, at high doses, it caused severe kidney and liver damage in animal studies. In response to the report, authorities acted quickly, arresting the fraudulent doctor and removing the dangerous product from the market.
Fact-checking’s important role across Africa
Debunking myths and verifying facts have become essential functions in today's media ecosystem across Africa, where misinformation and disinformation can quickly spread via platforms such as X, TikTok, and Facebook.
The recent announcement of the scaling back of Facebook’s funding in the U.S. comes at a time when there is an increasingly critical need for a methodical, evidence-driven approach to combating misinformation and disinformation in the world. Meta's financial support for this work is crucial in sustaining these efforts across Africa, where funding for such initiatives is scarce. If the company were to withdraw its backing altogether, the region could face a surge in misinformation and disinformation, posing significant challenges to the flow of accurate, fact-based narratives.
Notably, the shift in Meta’s priorities in the past two years has negatively affected the work of fact-checkers and journalists. The silent phasing out of human content moderators, for example, has forced fact-checkers to both verify claims and moderate content. Additionally, the discontinuation of CrowdTangle, a tool for tracking social media trends, has further complicated their work. Its replacement has proven ineffective for journalistic purposes.
In my years as a digital investigative journalist, I’ve become keenly aware of the need not only to respond to existing misleading narratives, but to anticipate and closely track their emergence in order to prevent them from influencing public perception.
This two-pronged approach, which blends proactive pre-bunking efforts — arming audiences with knowledge about common disinformation tactics and presenting accurate information in advance of encountering false claims — with effective debunking strategies to tackle falsehoods as they appear. It empowers fact-checkers to dismantle the complex web of misinformation, champion truth, and foster meaningful, informed dialogue.
Does fact-checking influence people’s beliefs, choices, or attitudes? Perhaps. But more importantly, it enhances accountability, counters falsehoods, promotes media literacy, and encourages informed discourse.
Conversations with front-line fact-checkers across sub-Saharan Africa have shown me how their tenacity and commitment to truth drive meaningful change, even in the face of considerable professional challenges.
Ethiopia
Ethiopian journalist Tolera Gemta emphasizes the importance of providing context when addressing inaccuracies. His method involves explaining why specific claims are false or misleading and supporting these explanations with reliable evidence.
"This includes citing primary evidence-based articles and integrating details from trusted sources to offer a deeper, factual perspective," he said.
Tolera focuses on disinformation about Ethiopia’s internal conflicts, which involve clashes between government forces and various regional militia groups, often labeled as rebel factions.
“Conflict-related disinformation has reached alarming levels on Ethiopian social media. Manipulated videos, false information about the conflict, and misleading portrayals of political actors are increasingly contributing to rising ethnic tensions. In some cases, this exacerbates the dynamics of the conflict,” Tolera said.
Feedback from readers indicates the value of his work. He noted that “many individuals and organizations, including researchers and journalism professors,” have praised his “ability to counter harmful conflict-related disinformation and shed light on ongoing abuses” in Africa’s second-most populous country.
However, online harassment is a growing threat. Tolera has faced attacks from bots and faceless accounts spreading hate, and weathered cyberattacks, the most recent of which occurred in June of last year.
Journalists and researchers in Africa, like Tolera — and myself — often encounter serious risks when exploring politically sensitive subjects. In June 2024, while investigating political disinformation related to the 2022 and 2023 elections in Kenya and Nigeria, I was subjected to serious threats.
I received repeated calls from unidentified individuals who used altered voices to issue warnings and demand that I abandon my investigation. They threatened severe consequences for both me and my family if I chose to continue. Two of my sources urged me to drop the story, cautioning me about the dangerous nature of the "powerful people" involved and emphasizing that these individuals would not hesitate to harm me or my loved ones.
Ethiopia’s ongoing internal conflicts illustrate how digital spaces can become breeding grounds for manipulative narratives. Intentional efforts by factions to shape perceptions and harmful online exchanges targeting marginalized groups, political adversaries, and media critical of the government fuel the persistence of propaganda. Despite this, many social media platforms inadequately moderate content, overlooking local escalation patterns or the vulnerabilities of communities under assault amid widespread societal polarization.
Conflict parties — whether the government and its allies, or militias with regional support bases — use social media to reinforce narratives, justify their actions, and subtly alter public perceptions. I chronicled this in an article in 2021 that showed how rising political aggression in Ethiopia was also spilling onto digital platforms, often unchecked. This weaponized information has contributed to increasing hostility in Ethiopia’s already intensely polarized political landscape.
Ghana
Most recently, researchers uncovered a network of bot accounts on the social media platform X that used ChatGPT to create posts supporting Ghana's former ruling party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), and its presidential candidate, Mahamudu Bawumia. These accounts expressed support for Bawumia’s conservative views and frequently employed hashtags such as #NPP, #Bawumia2024, and the party’s slogan, #ItIsPossible.
Despite this coordinated online campaign, Bawumia lost the December 2024 election to John Mahama, a candidate from an opposition party. Investigations by NewsGuard – an independent journalism and technology ratings company – revealed that these bots were active for several months leading up to the election.
I had a conversation with Ghanaian journalist Rabiu Alhassan, who highlighted the growing importance of fact-checkers in addressing issues such as disinformation and digital illiteracy – the inability to use technology to find, evaluate, create, and share information – across Africa. He explained that “widespread digital illiteracy exacerbates the challenge of tackling disinformation on the continent, creating opportunities for malicious actors to exploit the situation.”
Fact-checking alone cannot solve the problem, Alhassan said, but it plays a vital role within a wider range of initiatives aimed at improving the quality of online information. "Fact-checking might not be the magic wand, but it is an important part of a whole gamut of interventions to help sanitize the digital information environment,” Rabiu added.
Thorough fact-checking is especially critical for important events, such as elections, and for politicians and those in positions of influence. Alhassan cited a 2021 incident involving Ghanaian politician Alexander Afenyo-Markin, then deputy majority leader in parliament, who issued a public apology after inaccurately presenting a photo on social media. Afenyo-Markin had claimed the image depicted sand-mining activities in the Keta area of the Volta Region, but an investigation by the fact-checking organization Ghana Fact revealed the claim was false. Once the claim was debunked, Afenyo-Markin retracted his statement and apologized.
"Fact-checking might not be the magic wand, but it is an important part of a whole gamut of interventions to help sanitize the digital information environment.”
— Ghanaian journalist Rabiu Alhassan
Mali
In 2020, as political turmoil in Mali deepened, disinformation began to circulate widely. One example was a misleading report that falsely alleged Mali's expulsion from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Malian journalist Mardochee Boli uncovered a report that was the origin of misrepresentation of the situation. Contrary to the claim, the country had been suspended, not expelled from ECOWAS — although Mali, along with Burkina Faso and Niger, would eventually renounce its membership in January 2025. At the time, however, the media organization behind the misleading report initially responded to Boli’s exposé by filing a libel lawsuit against him and the Code for Africa. The court sided with Boli and his organization team, which had provided substantial evidence showing that Mali had not been booted from ECOWAS.
After the verdict, the media organization issued a retraction by modifying the article's headline and publicly apologizing for spreading incorrect information. This victory not only highlighted the essential role that fact-checking plays in countering misinformation; it reinforced the ethical obligation that media entities bear to ensure accuracy and accountability in their reporting.
“Fact-checking is vital in safeguarding the credibility of information provided by the media and other institutions,” Boli said. Addressing misinformation and disinformation and verifying claims not only restores public trust and confidence, Boli added, but also encourages responsible journalism. “This process drives more thorough research, measured reporting, and a commitment to transparency, ultimately cultivating accountability and higher standards within the media industry,” he said.
The case for continuing this work
Research emphasizes the importance of fact-checking in addressing misinformation, correcting misconceptions, and enhancing public understanding. Fact-checking goes beyond merely debunking false information; it reinforces trust in credible sources. By uncovering inaccuracies, it empowers individuals to differentiate between truth and falsehood, promoting informed and responsible conversations in various settings.
Research conducted by Cameron Martel and David Rand demonstrates that “warning labels” attached to online content “effectively reduce belief and spread of misinformation” and do so “even for those most distrusting of fact-checkers.”
Fact-check ‘warning labels’ are notices that indicate to readers the credibility or accuracy of a piece of information. They also serve to highlight content that may be misleading, false, or lacking sufficient evidence. These labels are applied on social media platforms to help users critically evaluate the reliability of the information they encounter.
Informing the public is only one way fact-checking organizations make a difference, and research confirms what the fact-checkers I spoke to see firsthand: Knowing someone is checking will often push politicians and influencers to be more careful with what they post or say.
Misinformation and disinformation is indeed a significant challenge in today's fast-paced information landscape. Nancy Gibbs, the director of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, noted that the issue lies in its “rapid evolution and constant mutation, making it increasingly difficult to address effectively.” Gibbs added that tackling this problem requires adaptive strategies and continuous efforts to stay ahead of its ever-changing nature.
As Tom Rosenstiel of the University of Maryland noted in 2017: “Misinformation is not like plumbing, a problem you fix. It is a social condition, like crime, that you must constantly monitor and adjust to.”
Ultimately, fact-checking organizations play a crucial role in improving public dialogue by promoting truthfulness and accuracy, according to Alhassan and others who work in this space across Africa.
“Through their efforts, they highlight the importance of honest communication, hold public figures accountable, and help create a well-informed society,” Alhassan said. “By prioritizing integrity in information, these organizations significantly enhance the quality of discussions that shape societal progress.”
