OUAGADOUGOU—The AFRICHECK platform, in collaboration with Fasocheck, trained about twenty journalists from June 25 to 26 in Ouagadougou on fact-checking, a practice aimed at verifying and rigorously processing facts to combat false information, especially on social networks.

According to Burkina Information Agency, the training was necessary due to the proliferation of “fake news” on social media. “For some time now, we have noted a fairly advanced proliferation of false information on social networks. With the advent of social networks, everyone becomes a journalist or broadcaster of information,” Ayivi lamented. He emphasized the importance of equipping journalists, the key players in information dissemination, with the skills to verify information circulating on social networks to prevent the spread of false information to the public.

Ayivi urged journalists to practice fact-checking daily, making it a habit to counter the profusion of false information online. He highlighted that this rigorous practice allows media professionals to disseminate credible information. The training, led by Isidore Bouda and Adnan Sidibé from Fasocheck, the first fact-checking platform in Burkina Faso, provided journalists with tools to effectively deal with fake news.

Journalist Gustave Konaté, one of the trainees, described the 48-hour training as an additional skill set that will enable him to “distinguish false information from true information in order to inform readers.” He expressed hope that the training would be extended to all journalists and the general public who consume information.

The training modules covered understanding the disinformation environment, concepts and real issues of disinformation, its harmful effects, online verification techniques and tools, journalistic ethics, and the regulation of social networks. AFRICHECK aims to establish a network of fact-checking journalists across Africa to promote critical reading of information.