A group of experts from the Institute of Press and Information Sciences highlighted in a study on media disinformation the need to strengthen the role of public media as an alternative force to counter fake news circulating on social media.
The study looked at the tactics used to manipulate public opinion, Sadok Hammami, the academic who supervised the work said on Friday.
The study, based on monitoring campaigns on social media from March 2022, was presented at a meeting on “the production of political disinformation, theoretical approaches, actors and tactics of disinformation in the Tunisian context” Friday.
The study concluded that disinformation leads to the manipulation of opinion and undermines national security. It is therefore necessary to prevent its impact on political life and society.
It also recommends that the public media sector be equipped with the necessary means to defend itself vigorously, while remaining subject to the principle of accountability.
Mohamed Hedi Fahem, President of the LABTRACK project at the Mourakiboun network, who took part in the preparation of this work, believes that it is necessary to address the recommendations of this study to all stakeholders, including institutions particularly affected by disinformation, such as governments, media and political actors.
In this work, the experts also looked at the issue of funding social networking sites for politicians and political parties, as well as the creation of propaganda sites that masquerade as sites providing credible information.
Another phenomenon highlighted by the study is the creation of temporary sites that imitate the investigative press and use fake experts, disappearing after their mission during political campaigns.
The study, carried out with the support of the International Labour Organisation, found that the management of these pages on social media is carried out from abroad in order to circumvent national legislation and create networks that repeat the same content.
It also shows that the nature of these sites changes during the election period, resorting to sensationalism, exaggeration and the manipulation of figures and statistics in order to reach as many people as possible.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse