Why Africa’s truth is falling behind in the digital race (Africanews Debates)

In a world where a shared post can trigger a national crisis in minutes, yesterday’s Africanews Debate tackled the continent’s most urgent question: Why does misinformation spread faster than the truth?

Yesterday, at 15:00 CET, four experts sat down to deconstruct the “Information War” currently reshaping African societies. From deepfakes of global icons to viral health scares in East Africa, the panel revealed that the problem isn’t just the technology, it’s us.

The 70% Speed Gap

The debate opened with a startling statistic: Falsehoods are 70% more likely to be shared than the truth. According to the panel, while fact-checkers are still tying their laces, a lie has already traveled halfway across the continent.

“It’s the ‘Novelty Hypothesis,’” noted Dr. Michael Asaku-Yeboah, a US-based psychologist. “Our brains are biologically wired to prioritize surprising, scary, or outrageous information. The truth is often sober and complex; a lie is designed to be addictive.”

The “Human” Final Filter

The consensus of the hour was a sobering one: Bots don’t spread lies; people do. While AI can generate a falsehood in seconds, it is the human “click” that gives it wings.

“We have to stop treating viewers as passive consumers and start treating them as publishers,” the panel concluded. The solution isn’t just better laws or faster fact-checking—it’s a “mental vaccine” of digital literacy.

Join the Conversation

Did you miss the live broadcast? You can watch the full replay on the Africanews YouTube channel.