of the actors and stakeholders interviewed for this study are of the opinion that legislation can play an important role in the fight against information disorder. However, for this to happen, the legislation must be less ambiguous. It must be impartial and, above all, it must be used as an instrument of regulation rather than repression. Various of the case studies discussed above show that the law can be used to restrict freedom of expression or to settle political scores. Some of the experts interviewed for this study also argued that the laws are more suitable as repressive measures than as tools for education and awareness raising. For laws against mis- and disinformation to be effective, repression is not enough—education and awareness are also needed. 7. CONCLUSION Information disorder is recognized as a severe problem which is further complicated by the interaction between global and local politics and economics. Notwithstanding the long history of politically motivated mis- and disinformation in Africa, the new dimensions added to this problem by social media have led to a recent upsurge in actors trying to counter its effects. These actors range from existing media and civil society organizations to new, independent initiatives. They focus primarily on political and health-related mis- and disinformation, either in general or within specific contexts such as national election periods. Fact checking is the type of response most often implemented; however, most actors deploy multiple responses (such as public education and media capacity building in addition to fact checking) to address the multidimensional nature of information disorder. This suggests the perception that multifaceted approaches will be more effective than single-prong initiatives, although there is currently insufficient monitoring and evaluation data to assess this. Even considering the different sociopolitical and economic landscapes in Africa as compared to other world regions, most of the actors we interviewed believe that the manifestations of information disorder are not dramatically different in sub-Saharan Africa compared to other regions of the world. However, actors in sub-Saharan Africa arguably face greater constraints in achieving their goals than do actors in other world regions, chiefly due to financial and human capacity limitations and an underdeveloped data culture. I N FO R M ATI O N D I SO R D ER IN THE GLOBA L SOUTH Securing adequate resources, leveraging existing capacity by combining efforts, and finding ways to measure and demonstrate impact might prove critical to building effective systems to counter information disorder. More information is also needed to understand the flow of misand disinformation between online and offline audiences to account for the areas in subSaharan Africa that have low digital access but are still vulnerable to mis- and disinformation originating from online platforms. Although the role of legislation and the need for government support are recognized by the actors interviewed for this study and by the literature reviewed, state involvement in controlling mis- and disinformation is generally looked upon with suspicion. This is the legacy of decades of media and political repression by authoritarian governments. Sub -Saharan Africa – 1 6 6