The forum was held at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara Conference Centre.
The project is a follow up to a regional meeting that was organised by the Center for Democracy and Development, West Africa in October 2021.
The meeting held in Abuja brought together West African CSOs and media houses to learn and share experiences under tackling fake news in West Africa project. This was CRP’s commitment to replicate such a meeting as a mechanism to join the regional fight against fake news.
CRP and CDD-West Africa have been partnering to support and work with various organisations towards the most effective long-term solutions to tackling fake news in The Gambia and across the sub-region.
Sait Matty Jaw, executive director for Center for Research and Policy highlighted that they believe tackling the threat posed by fake news requires a multi-stakeholder approach, one in which civil society and media are central.
He noted that they recognise the critical role the media and civil society play in promoting and providing public awareness and education on fake news and its impacts.
Muhammed S. Bah, president of The Gambia Press Union highlighted that the media should take the lead in combating hate speech, disinformation and misinformation. He added that in doing so they should not allow themselves to be used as agents of hate speech and false news.
“Our role is to ensure undiluted facts are presented to the public to help them make informed choices,” he stated.
Bah urged his colleagues to work together ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections as well as develop the culture of fact checking but also constantly debunk fake news and hate speech to help consolidate our democracy.
Madi Jobateh, a human rights activist expresses happiness in seeing Gambian journalists’ fact checking to helping the public know and see the truth.
