Online disinformation and misinformation threat to democracy, national security

 Apple iPhone 6s screen with social media icons. (Courtesy/GettyImages)

Gathering clouds is an expression that is used to warn of an impending storm. Before western technology came into the scene, Africans had robust early warning systems that ensured that no danger caught them flat-footed like sitting ducks.

Today, with rapid development of both the political economy and the state, we have set up a number of security organs such as National Intelligence Service (NIS) whose primary responsibility is to disrupt threats against the people. Like the fortune tellers of old, NIS has sounded a warning bell.

While speaking at the Mashariki Cooperation Conference, an entity that brings together intelligence agencies in Africa, in Naivasha, our spy chief decried the deliberate disinformation and misinformation that is taking place in the blogosphere and its potential to undermine national security, peace and democratic gains not only in Kenya but also in other African countries.

Let’s face it. There is palpable anger hanging over Kenya. So many young people, frustrated by lack of opportunity while admiring what their peers in other jurisdictions enjoy, have turned social media into a tool for civic mobilisation and engagement.

This reality has been further necessitated by overzealousness of our security agencies when responding to street pickets and demonstrations. That anger also stems from the fact that some political players have sought to exploit perceived ethnic grievances to further their political goals. These and other factors have made our blogosphere a politically volatile space.

As a consequence, other nefarious actors have moved in to dispense huge doses of misinformation and disinformation that is intended to turbo-charge ethnic and political differences while heightening the anxieties of the general populace.

There are two types of anger. The one that goes into one’s heart and poisons it. That makes one bitter and vindictive. The one that turns one into a beast, a purveyor of pain and evil. Then there is another type of anger.

The one that goes to one’s head that gives one clarity and distills his/her course of action. The type of anger that makes you resistant to ridicule and put downs. The young people, for the love of God and their country, must reject the former for the latter.

We all have just this one country. The mounting intolerance witnessed on the social media has got no place in our midst. Even in our search for a viable political vision, we must, in the wisdom of writer Chinua Achebe, the kite perch and let the eagle perch too.

The reckless use of social media is going to amplify the calamity of misinformation and disinformation as so many users might not be able to tell between fact, opinion and outright propaganda. In the past couple of months, we have witnessed the spread of falsehoods on the internet at record speed made possible by generative artificial intelligence.

The purveyors of disinformation and misinformation rely on text to text chatbox. We have also seen where highly realistic but fake audio and videos are shared on social media platforms with the aim of distorting public opinion and even harming individuals and/or institutions. Practitioners in cybersecurity have a name for such. They call them deepfakes. My niece told me that the APP used is called stable diffusion or mid-journey.

As the young people demand for a better country and a more responsive government, we must also see a greater sense of responsibility towards one another and towards the country. In the wisdom of Mark Twain, patriotism is supporting your country at all times and your government when it deserves it. We must jealously defend and protect our country by being on the lookout for those who might want to plant seeds of ethnic discord amongst us.

National security practitioners warn that Kenya, as a consequence volatile political situation coupled with permissive social media culture continues to face catastrophic risks with a high degree of randomness. This coupled with the raging conflict in the region, Ethiopia, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo permit us no luxury of in regards to protecting our democracy and national security.

Mr Kidi is the convener of Inter Parties Youth Forum. [e-mail]