The Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) and the Independent Radio Network (IRN), through the supports of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and other partners, yesterday launched i-Verify Sierra Leone at the Swiss Hotel in Freetown.
The aim is to promote the creation of an enabling environment for the I-Verify for the conduct of peaceful elections and the strengthening of social cohesion to increase citizens’ access to credible information during the June 24 general elections.
The Vice President of SLAJ, Sahr James Bangah on behalf of SLAJ, the Independent Radio Network (IRN) and the BBC Media Action, welcomed participants to the launch of the project, which is aimed at promoting the creation of an enabling environment for the conduct of peaceful elections and strengthening of social cohesion in Sierra Leone.
He explained that with the rise of fake news and misinformation, it had become increasingly difficult for citizens to access credible information in their everyday lives but most importantly during national elections.
“As we all know, free and fair elections are the cornerstone of any democracy”, he said, adding that they provided citizens with the opportunity to exercise their democratic rights and elect leaders who would represent their collective interests and aspirations.
The SLAJ Vice President noted that in recent times, “We have witnessed the negative impact of fake news, misinformation, and hate speech on electoral processes across the world. These issues have led to widespread confusion, distrust between citizens and their Governments, and even violence”.
He furthered that here in Sierra Leone, they had seen the role of disinformation and hate speech in incidents that had claimed the lives of Sierra Leoneans and many public property destroyed. He cited the Tombo, Lunsar and Makeni riots, and the infamous August 10th 2022 violent protests which claimed the lives of over 21 innocent civilians and six police officers.
Sahr James Bangah also narrated that they had also seen how hate speech around tribe, ethnicity, region, and religion had crept into the country’s political conversations, thereby promoting intolerance and threatening the unity, peace, democratic credentials and the electoral process ahead of the June 2023 elections.
It is against this backdrop, he continued, that SLAJ and IRN were working in collaboration with the UNDP and BBC Media Action and several other partners to introduce the ‘I-verify platform’ in Sierra Leone’s June 2023 elections. He said the platform was designed mainly to promote transparency and ensure that the public was well-informed during the electoral process through increase access to credible information around the elections.
Mr Bangah concluded that the ‘I-Verify platform’ was an innovative solution that would leverage the power of technology to identify and flag problematic contens during the upcoming public elections with the belief that their partnership would help to promote transparency, accountability, and free and fair elections and recognize the importance of engaging with citizens.
In his keynote address the UNDP Resident Coordinator, Dr Babatunde Ahonsi, dilated on the importance of the media and the key role it plays in the electoral process. He said freedom of opinion and expression were all human rights issues and that religious components also had performs to enhance peace, national cohesion and political tolerance.
The UN Resident Coordinator explained that in the past two years, the country experienced flood of hate messages which called for collective duty to ensure that the June 24 elections would be peaceful. He also admonished stakeholders to create a level playing field for all political actors to thrive.
He concluded that they all now had a collective responsibility to ensure that the June 24 multi-party elections were credible and peaceful.
On behalf of the Inter-Religious Council, Osman Fornah spoke on the enhancement of public participation, promotion of electoral practices and political tolerance. According to him, the backbone of any credible election was a transparent and responsible media.