The Ghana Police Service has called for the collaboration of the traditional media to stop misinformation, disinformation and fake news, particularly as the country heads for the general election.
The Police High Command said those three vices could jeopardise the security of the country for which the media must work together with the police to nip in the bud.
The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr George Akuffo Dampare, who made the call, said the rising trend of misinformation, disinformation and fake news had implications for the security of the state, especially as the country headed for the polls, and must be curtailed and rooted out with dispatch.
“We must work together and find a way of dealing with this matter, else the people who don’t wish this country well, even including some Ghanaians who have not seen war before and yet want to see that there is confusion, will use that as a medium of creating confusion for selfish interests which are demonic,” the IGP said.
Speaking at the Police Headquarters in Accra last Thursday during an engagement with the Editor, Graphic, Theophilus Yartey, and a team of editors from the Daily Graphic, the Inspector General said there were countries where such vices and incidents had been used for destruction, which meant they should not be allowed to fester against “the security of this only country that we all have, especially during this election year.”
Dr Dampare, whose team included the Director-General, Administration, Commissioner of Police (COP) Christian Tetteh Yohuno; the Director-General, Finance, COP Michael Nketia Frempong; Director-General, Criminal Investigation Department, COP Faustina Andoh-Kwofie, and the Director-General, Operations, COP Mohammed Fuseini Suraji, cited the recent attack on the Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency in Accra which was based on fake news.
“Looking at the recent incident at Ayawaso West Wuogon where there was fake news and misinformation to the effect that one political party has some 200 people in a house registering people in the night and then another political party organised, went there and attacked them, it turns out there is no truth in it,” the IGP stated.
Dr Dampare said the police would act swiftly with such incidents to engender trust in their work and ensure the safety of the public and, therefore, called on the public, especially the traditional media, to support that fight.
The discussions with the Graphic team centred on how the Ghana Police can deepen partnership with the media, especially the autonomously run state-owned newspaper, to secure the peace in the country before, during and after the elections. They form part of a wider and regular engagement instituted by the Police Management Board (POMAB).
Other POMAB members present at the engagement were the Director-General, Legal and Prosecutions, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Benjamin Osei Addae; the Director-General, Human Resource, COP Daniel Afriyie; the Director, Public Affairs, ACP Grace Ansah-Akrofi, and the Chief Staff Officer, Chief Superintendent Kingsley Aboagye.
Context
During the discussion, misinformation, disinformation and fake news came up as a serious security concern for the police, who have taken a strong stance against the rising menace.
Misinformation is false or inaccurate information deliberately intended to deceive, whereas in disinformation perpetrators orchestrate adversarial activity through strategic deceptions and media manipulations to advance political, military or commercial goals.
Source: GraphicOnline