Sign In My Account
Home
About
Governance
What We Do
Our Model
Our impact
Our Story
Organisational Reach
Our Activities
Our Partners
Our Global Reach
Donation
Our Team
Contact Us
Office Location
Get Involved
Fundraise
Join A Fundraise
Legacy Giving
Partner With Us
Upcoming Events
Become A Supplier
Affiliated Entities
Featured Projects
Equipment Donation
Books Donation
Media
The Youth Cafe Gallery
Updates
Newsletter Submission
Podcast
Careers
Hiring Process
Life At The Youth Cafe
Career Areas
Staff Testimonials
Become A Volunteer
Open Opportunities
Resources
Book Appointment
Perspectives Blog
Publications
Policy Briefs
Performance Indicators
Scholarships
Policies
The Youth Cafe Podcast
Covid-19 and Youth
FAQs

A Light Bulb of Youth In African Development

Sign In My Account
Home
About
Governance
What We Do
Our Model
Our impact
Our Story
Organisational Reach
Our Activities
Our Partners
Our Global Reach
Donation
Our Team
Contact Us
Office Location
Get Involved
Fundraise
Join A Fundraise
Legacy Giving
Partner With Us
Upcoming Events
Become A Supplier
Affiliated Entities
Featured Projects
Equipment Donation
Books Donation
Media
The Youth Cafe Gallery
Updates
Newsletter Submission
Podcast
Careers
Hiring Process
Life At The Youth Cafe
Career Areas
Staff Testimonials
Become A Volunteer
Open Opportunities
Resources
Book Appointment
Perspectives Blog
Publications
Policy Briefs
Performance Indicators
Scholarships
Policies
The Youth Cafe Podcast
Covid-19 and Youth
FAQs
A Tool To Curb The Spread Of Misinformation And Disinformation Online.
April 11, 2022
Civically Online, Communication Strategies, Digital Media Literacy, Digital Technologies, Education And Skills, Emerging Technology, Global Crisis, Implementation Research, Innovative Solutions, Internet Communications
Mwarabu Nina
A Tool To Curb The Spread Of Misinformation And Disinformation Online.
Mwarabu Nina
April 11, 2022
Civically Online, Communication Strategies, Digital Media Literacy, Digital Technologies, Education And Skills, Emerging Technology, Global Crisis, Implementation Research, Innovative Solutions, Internet Communications

A Tool To Curb The Spread Of Misinformation And Disinformation Online.

Mwarabu Nina
April 11, 2022
Civically Online, Communication Strategies, Digital Media Literacy, Digital Technologies, Education And Skills, Emerging Technology, Global Crisis, Implementation Research, Innovative Solutions, Internet Communications

A Tool To Curb The Spread Of Misinformation And Disinformation Online.

In collaboration with United Nations Development Programme Accelerator Lab Kenya and the Healthy Internet Project (HIP) incubated at Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED), Busara Center for Behavioral Economics conducted a live behavioral science experimental demonstration of the Healthy Internet Project (HIP) plug-in, an open-source web browser extension that allows users to flag content online anonymously: it is intended to help curb the spread of lies, abuse, and fear-mongering, as well as to uplift useful ideas on the internet.

The experiment was to understand potential users' motivations, experiences, and practices in using the platform to flag misinformation. Information pollution, where facts and figures become a source of societal division, impacts behavior, social cohesion, and public trust. If not addressed, misinformation and disinformation can undermine civic culture by promoting general mistrust and encouraging sub-optimal behaviors.

When information is false or misleading but spread without the intention of harm, it is misinformation. On the other hand, when information is spread deliberately to harm and benefit certain interest groups, it is disinformation. These two types of information are often being served to audiences alongside and with the same weight as the truth. Audiences must critically evaluate any data or knowledge to identify and flag misinformation and disinformation successfully. However, given the abundant information available, especially online, it is much easier for people to fall for false information rather than sift through and objectively analyze it themselves. 

Implementing robust programs in media literacy, as a topic that emerged in the discussion for both adults and children, is again necessary to combat the spread of misinformation effectively. Media literacy is a tool to prepare future generations to combat the rising tide of information warfare. The Youth Café seeks to equip young people with critical media literacy skills: critical thinking, fact-checking, online safety, social media verification, and quality assessment of online information and sources through a Digital Media and Information Literacy Handbook. 

Now more than ever, The Youth Café needs to enhance the fact-checking skills of the youth to restore eroded trust by fake news, improve their civic online reasoning and encourage responsible social media usage. These skills are critical to reducing political incitement, political strife, tarnished political images, and hate speech in the electoral context. These skills are essential in restoring and consolidating democracy in Kenya.

Starting with a quantitative live experiment, Busara Center for Behavioral Economics observed natural behaviors (such as user experience, motivations, accuracy, and demographic trends) of 128 users on the platform, followed by a qualitative exercise with 44 of these users. Respondents were pooled from five counties (Kajiado, Kiambu, Machakos, Murang'a, and Nairobi) and represented diverse age and ethnic groups and levels of education. The qualitative exercise sought to understand context-specific insights related to user motivations through in-depth interviews and a Focus Group Discussion. The participants were then classified as either active, moderate, or low users based on how frequently they used the platform. Most of our study participants were considered low users, while only three were deemed to be active users.

Key findings from the experiment revealed that most participants deemed the Healthy Internet Project (HIP) an appropriate tool for stopping the spread of misinformation. However, internet challenges and infrequent encounters with harmful content were cited as contributors to the platform's low usage. Participants also mentioned the lack of feedback mechanisms on their flagged content, not having a computer to access the Healthy Internet Project (HIP) tool, and the rare usage of the internet.

Most people either use their judgment or intuition to determine whether the information they come across is harmful content or check to see whether it would be harmful to them or others in society. Interestingly, even though the tool intends to stop the spread of misinformation, 75% of participants used the tool to flag helpful content. This was due to concerns that flagging negative content: was more subjective; might have led to harmful repercussions for those who are flagged; and was personally risky, especially regarding political content.

Naturally, anonymity became a concern. Users feared that they would be identified through the platform use, thus increasing skepticism and aversion to using Healthy Internet Project (HIP) despite assurances that all the flagged content would be anonymous. For user accuracy, the support of PesaCheck, Africa's largest indigenous fact-checking organization, was engaged to validate a sample of the claims associated with the flagging activity from the study. Misinformation was related to negative sentiments, such as a dislike for a topic, rather than misinformation itself.

Additionally, it was difficult to know what constituted misinformation amongst flagged content because users hardly specified what was misinforming about the websites they were on. Finally, only 40% of the 128 study participants flagged more than one item using the Healthy Internet Project (HIP) plug-in, effectively reducing data diversity. With these limitations, the generalizability of results was unattainable.

To improve the use and functionality of the Healthy Internet Project (HIP), the recommendations arising from the experiment are: There should be more details to convince users of their anonymity to address the risks they feel on reporting misinformation. A detailed description of misinformation should be present to increase the accuracy of user reports. Removal of the "worthwhile" flag to solidify the purpose of the plug-in and have more flagging options with simplified definitions for each, such as "cruelty, violence or intimidation" instead of "abuse or harassment."

Addition of a required "misinformation identification" field for easier fact-checking since users will specify the content they regard as misinformation, for example identifying specific phrases or sentences rather than linking to a complete article. Develop a phone version to improve the tool's responsiveness, incentivize active users, enable social media flagging, and translate to other languages. Provision of a simple system to demonstrate how feedback is being actioned to increase usage of the tool and prove that user behaviors make a difference. This may be done by connecting fact-checkers to review the database of flagged content and feeding back the findings to the users.

The Youth Café works with young men and women around Africa as a trailblazer in advancing youth-led approaches toward achieving sustainable development, social equity, innovative solutions, community resilience, and transformative change.

Contact us for any comments or suggestions.

Tagged: youth in peace, Youth delegates, Youth-led Accountability, youth activists, youth mental health, Youth Engagement, youth advocates, youth day of service, Youth, youth-serving organizations, young people, youth unemployment, youth unemployment figures, youth-led initiative, youth led research, youth Participatory Budgeting, youth empowerment, Youth Innovation Award, youth leader, youth engagement, Youth Enterprise Fund, Youth Manifesto, youth leadership and training facility, youth employment and skills development, Youth for Migration, youth leadership, Youth Networks, young women, youth excel, Youth Lead, Young Asylum Seekers, Youth inclusion, Youth Influence, youth centred approach, youth-led organisations, young leaders, Youth Consultation Meeting, Youth in Development Policy, youth healthcare workers, YouthLead.org, Youth Excel consortium, Youth Representatives, youth- Virtual training/ engagement, Young African entrepreneurs, youth-led approaches, Youth Bunge, youth projects, Youth Excel USAID, youth priorities, young peacebuilders, Youth Leaders, Youth Perspective, Youth Migration, youth-specific gap, youth networks, youth culture, Youth Declaration on Media and Information Literacy (2016), youth, youth in Kenya, Youth Silencing The Guns, Youth Branch Chief, Youth Leadership Advisory Board, youth potential, youths, youth perspectives, youth capacity, youth-serving organization, youth advocacy and empowerment, youth power, youth inclusion in politics, youth led solutions, Young Farmers, Young Ecopreneurs, Young People, Youth Delegate programme, youth organizations, YouthPower Learning, YouthPower, Youth Leadership Center, youth voices, Youth Employment Service programme, Youth Excel, young men, youth entrepreneurs, Youth Inclusion in Democracy, youth panel discussion, Youth Financing for Development Working Group, Youth Innovation, youthful vote, YouthAgainstCOVID19, Youth Dialogue, youth poweré, Youth Organizations in Kenya, Youth Excel IREX, Youth Excel logo competition, Youth Envoy, youth inclusion, youth employment, youth-led, youth inclusion in human rights, youth/citizen involvement, youth groups and sports, young volunteers, youth development, youth-engagement platform, YouthPower.org, Youth Leadership Category, youth-focused organizations, youth in Peace and Security, Youth in Migration, Youth Empowerment, key foundations of youth in Peace and Security, Siyakha Youth Assets Study, UN youth groups, 30 young persons, UN Youth Strategy, 75 Youth Townhall, Kenyan youth participation, Kenyan Youth Manifesto, Kenyan youth, The Youth Envoy, The Youth Forum, The Youth Cafe and the UN Migration Agency, The Youth Café and #LearningPlanet, The Youth Cafe Leadership Center, internet search engines, Intergenerational Dialogue, internet service, internet, Internet, internet functions, Internet communications, internet users, Internet Without Borders, wifi/internet, promoting internet-literate, the decline on internet freedom, E-democracy or Internet Democracy, intergenerational co-leadership, International Covenant, International Trade Center, international aid, International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, intergovernmental and public platforms, International Organization for Migration (IOM), Internal Migration, intercultural dialogue, inter-governmental negotiations, international relations, Intergovernmental Organization, intergenerational partnerships, international destination, International Immigrants, behavioral skills, behavioural regulations, behavioral changes, content, content online, Content creation, accurate content, disseminate content, political content authors, Guidelines on Prevention of Dissemination of Undesirable Bulk and Premium Rate Political Messages and Political Social Media Content via Electronic Communication Networks, information, Information, inform, informal settlements, information sharing, Informal settlements, information warfare, information use, informal youth groups, infographics-leverage research, informal economy, information literacy, informal and formal sectors, Misinformation, misinformation, Disinformation, disinformation, risk-informed recovery, digital information, limited information, Ministry of Information & Communication, mis(dis)information, (dis)information, Media Information, Media Information Literacy, verified digital information, reliable information, written information, Media and Information Literacy and Intercultural Dialogue (MILID) University Network, COVID-19 Misinformation, credible information, quantifiable and measurable information, Well informed society, false information, spreading false and misleading information, authentic information, processing information, lack of information, abuse of information technology and social media, The Media and Information Literacy Alliance Awards, development partners, Development, development goals of 2030, developing policies and programs, development agencies, Development Communication, development cooperation, drive economic growth and achieve sustainable development, advancing youth development, leadership development camps/workshops, Development of a Regional Action Plan on UN Security Council Resolution 2250, United Nations Development Program, United Nations Development Programme, Developing Youth Assets For Employability, Decade of Action for Sustainable Development, UN's development goals., unbridled urban development, Director of Macroeconomic Forecasting and Research at the African Development Bank, and Capacity Development for African Youth, rural development, skill development, Health Development Specialist, impacted youth development, global development agenda, social development policies and plans, social development, policy development, Policy Development, Project Developer, global development, African Development Bank’s strategic agenda, African Development Bank’, African Development Bank, African Development Bank’s acting director for human capital, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, African Development Institute of the African Development Bank, economic development, hate speech and misinformation, Mismatch in Skills

Newer PostBuddies Without Borders | Amplifying Cultures And Promoting Diversity.
Older PostThe Sixth European Union - African Union Summit.

It is our core belief, at The Youth Cafe, that young people can transform the planet as actors in achievement of sustainable development.

Welcome to The Youth Cafe

Africa’s largest and most divers convening community of professionals harnessing youth advocacy, policy, and research for socio-economic impact.

We amplify the voices of young people worldwide. Never miss a post.

We respect your privacy.

Thank you for for your interest in The Youth Cafe. We are so happy to have you on board. We’ll periodically send you some of our best curated content. You can also always check out our site for the most up-to-date content and our full range of opportunities.

Thanks!

Back to Top
Privacy Policy
Community Feedback
Direction To The Office
The Youth Cafe, Kitisuru Gardens, Nairobi, Kenya+254734795798info@theyouthcafe.com

The African Youth Café is Registered under section 10 of the Non-Governmental Organizations Coordination Act | Copyright @2012-2025 | All Rights Reserved.