The Southern Africa region has joined the global conversation on combating misinformation and disinformation with a virtual regional meeting convened under the theme “Strengthening Digital Resilience through Information Integrity: The Southern Africa Experience.”
The meeting, held on June 19, 2025, was organized by Dr. Olunifesi A. Suraj of the Faculty of Communication and Media Studies at the University of Lagos. Dr. Suraj who doubles as Global Co-lead and Africa Regional Coordinator of the UNESCO-UNITWIN MILID University Network, as well as Executive Director of the African Center for Media and Intercultural Dialogue (ACMID).
The virtual engagement addressed the growing concern over information disorder across Africa, particularly in a post-truth era where the distinction between fact and opinion, falsehood and truth, has become increasingly blurred.
Participants reflected on how misinformation—whether intentional (disinformation) or unintentional—continues to cause harm, aided by biased algorithms, clickbait culture, and the erosion of information integrity.
The dialogue emphasized that human rights are central to the information disorder crisis. It noted that where free speech and freedom of expression are suppressed, misinformation thrives.
Conversely, in societies where such rights are upheld, disinformation is challenged through media pluralism, press freedom, and empowered citizens. Media and Information Literacy (MIL) was highlighted as a crucial competency for enabling people to identify and challenge false narratives.
It was also observed that while free speech supports democratic expression, it can also give space for dissidents and extremists to spread harmful ideologies, making the information landscape more complex.
The meeting emphasized that information integrity entails creating a pluralistic information space that fosters human rights, promotes peaceful societies, and supports a sustainable future.
The event was part of the broader effort by the Africa Group of the UNESCO-UNITWIN MILID University Network to document and amplify regional experiences in Media and Information Literacy, to achieve information integrity across Africa through collaboration and strategic partnerships.
A similar meeting had earlier taken place in East Africa on April 3, 2025, following a continental awareness initiative held on December 9, 2024.
The UNESCO-UNITWIN MILID University Network, established in 2011 during the First International Forum on Media and Information Literacy in Fez, Morocco, serves as a platform for building capacity in higher education, integrating research, civil society, and policy-making to promote media literate societies globally.
Its African Group was formally inaugurated at the University of Lagos on December 9, 2024, in line with UNESCO’s Priority Africa 2022–2029 strategy and the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
The Southern Africa meeting reaffirmed the network’s commitment to support Africa’s development through Media and Information Literacy.
It also aligned with statements by UNESCO leadership emphasizing the need to rethink knowledge systems to shape alternative futures for Africa and to address critical issues such as internet governance, digital transformation, media pluralism, and artificial intelligence.
With ten African universities currently in the network, five of which are in Nigeria, the group reiterated its commitment to expanding membership, strengthening partnerships, and conducting research that supports information integrity and sustainable development across the continent.
The meeting concluded with a call for all stakeholders to work together to uphold African information integrity and realize “the Africa we want.”