Thus, critics are of the opinion that the government’s efforts are not genuine, but rather that the state is attempting to control the war narrative and to position itself as the sole provider of reliable information while disrupting the communication lines of “opponents.” South Africa, on the other hand, has a state-run Covid-19 resource platform intended to counter mis- and disinformation by providing a trustworthy source of information on the pandemic. Through the Disaster Management Act 57 of 2002, South Africa has also criminalized the publication of any statement made “with the intention to deceive any other person” about Covid-19, about the infection status of any person, or about any measure taken by the government to address Covid-19 (also see Table 1: Overview of the operations of Africa Check Annex B). The other organizations which fall in this subcategory are international organizations, such as Amnesty International, who have formed collaborations to advocate against repressive governments that threaten freedom of expression or of the press or to capacitate third-party organizations to speak out against mis- and disinformation in their respective regions. OTHER TYPES OF RESPONSES In addition to the responses discussed above, which are largely institutional, there are also more organic initiatives emerging from citizen activism. Less attention has been devoted to examining these public-led responses. A prominent example is the #KenyaDecides and #KOT hashtags, which were aimed at educating citizens and raising awareness of the possible manipulation of facts designed to incite violence during Kenya’s 2016 elections. 4.2 TYPES OF METHODS Beyond the broad categories of responses outlined above, actors working to counter information disorder draw on a variety of methods to implement their responses. This section presents a brief discussion of some of these methods and the initiatives using them. The descriptions here are based on information from interviews and from the initiatives’ websites. The methods used include: Africa Check About Africa Check is a network of nonprofit fact-checking organizations with offices in South Africa, Kenya, Senegal, and Nigeria. It focuses on checking statements of fact, especially those made by public officials, with a heavy focus on data as the source of evidence. Its main goal is to distinguish fact from fiction, encourage critical thinking in information consumption, and foster a community of nonpartisan fact checkers. The main targets are political disinformation and general misinformation on social media. Established 2012 Reach Africa Languages English, French, local languages Partners Subject matter experts, media training organizations, community radio stations, international radio stations, social media platforms, global foundations, global non-governmental organizations (NGOs) Methods and activities The team monitors statements made by public officials and submissions from the public. Claims to fact check are selected by considering the importance of the topic, who made the claim, and its potential impact. Fact checking is done by verifying the precise wording of the claim, giving the person who made the claim the opportunity to provide evidence to back up what they said, checking other sources of evidence, assigning a rating to the claim, and publishing the findings. If the information is found to be false, then a final step is to contact the person who made the claim, explain the findings, and request a public correction. Fact-checked information is updated as necessary, including when errors are identified. Africa Check also does investigative research and reports on the extent and impacts of information disorder. It also publishes independent evaluations of its work. Other activities Journalist training and community building, media literacy campaigns, fact-checking and verification workshops, repository of facts, helpdesk for journalists Challenges • It is difficult to access data and information from government officials and businesses. • There is a lack of tools designed by Africans, for the African context, and based on local languages. Perspectives on information disorder “Misinformation is everywhere and it can cause significant harm depending on the region or the context. Digital coverage plays an important role in amplifying the reach and impact of misinformation. Also, certain topics such as health or politics are prone to a lot of misinformation.” I N FO R M ATI O N D I SO R D ER IN THE GLOBA L SOUTH Sub -Saharan Africa – 1 48