Lack of access to verifying tools in rural areas has resulted in high chances of misinformation and
disinformation, these sentiments were shared during a twitter space meeting hosted by Centre for
Innovation and Technology (CITE).
Speaking at the X Space, Constentine Mpofu, the Programs Manager for Matobo Youth Development
Initiative (MYDI), people in rural Matabeleland rely on WhatsApp to receive their messages online, as this
is a faster and easier form of communication for many.
“Most of the information used on WhatsApp is unverified and people believe what they receive on
WhatsApp and take it as it is. They don’t have any means of verifying that information,” said Mpofu.
The consumers of content on WhatsApp in some cases might have the skills to verify, however, they will
encounter network challenges and high mobile data tariffs.
“This (failure to verify) is due to the high data prices for them to access the internet platforms that they
use to verify, and, in some cases, there is poor quality of network hence they have to rely on WhatsApp
sources,” he said.
There is a need for service providers to be forth coming with information in a bid to curb misinformation
and disinformation in their areas of operation.
“If we are talking about access to birth certificates, most people don’t know the required documents, you
will find some travelling a distance of 60km and they are told they need this and that, but this person has
already used a large amount of money to travel,” added Mpofu.
MYDI has been implementing strategies to ensure that the youth access credible information. One of the
strategies is putting up tv screens in government departments that usually have an audience of the public,
such as the Rural District Council and Maphisa District Hospital.
“We are trying to bridge that gap people have to access fake information because there is no platform with
verified information. Our primary target was to make sure we equip young people with skills to be able to
access and disseminate information online,” said Mpofu.
Mpofu highlighted that they also encourage people to think critically when reading news shared online,
take note of who shared and what their intention is.
“We teach people the basic skills of identifying fake information, whether it’s an image, doing image search
or just identifying if a link is genuine or not,” added Mpofu.
Constentine Mpofu is also a media and information literacy trainer, where he capacitates young people
with skills of how to create, access and share information online.
