2027: Tackle fake news early, Yiaga urges INEC

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Yiaga Africa has urged INEC to provide accurate and timely information to prevent AI-enabled disinformation from eroding public confidence ahead of the 202 Read More:…

Yiaga Africa’s Director of Programmes, Cynthia Mbamalu, has said the Independent National Electoral Commission must provide accurate and timely information on the electoral process.

This, Mbamalu said, would prevent AI-enabled disinformation from eroding public confidence and discouraging voter participation ahead of the 2027 general elections.

She warned that deliberate attempts to mislead voters posed a greater threat than misinformation shared unknowingly, urging the electoral commission to adopt proactive communication and establish clear channels through which citizens can verify election-related information.

Speaking at The PUNCH webinar on AI, misinformation and Nigeria’s 2027 general elections on Wednesday, organised by the PUNCH Media Foundation, YIAGA Africa’s Director of Programmes said public trust was critical to electoral participation, warning that citizens who lost confidence in the process were less likely to participate.

“When people are confident, then they are more inspired to participate. When they don’t trust the system, they are less inspired to participate. And I always say this: trust is a currency for electoral participation. For citizens, especially Nigerians, we already operate in a context where we naturally have a major trust issue as a people. This is a country where we ordinarily do not trust each other, so we struggle with trust.

“When it comes to the electoral process, if there is anything that anyone targets, if you want to limit participation or affect how citizens engage, the major target is trust and confidence, which is why we are having this conversation on AI and misinformation,” she said.

Mbamalu further noted that the growing use of digitally manipulated content made it necessary for electoral stakeholders to strengthen information integrity before, during and after elections.

She explained that the country currently faced a bigger challenge of disinformation, which is deliberate attempts to deceive and manipulate the public.

Mbama…

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