Africa-Press – Tanzania. TANZANIAN journalists have been urged to conduct a thorough investigation of the news they provide to avoid misinformation, incitement, and abuse through Artificial Intelligence, especially in this period leading to the General Elections.
This was stated by the Acting Executive Director of the Tanzania Women Journalists Association (TAMWA), Sylvia Daulinge, in a two-day training course provided in collaboration with the #DefyHateNow initiative through the Global Action for Peacebuilding (GAPI) and funded by the German GIZ.
Daulinge said AI is largely used to create misleading and alarming information, urging journalists to use fact-checking tools to verify and be safe.
“We are conducting a discussion on the effects of misinformation, especially in this period leading up to the next elections in 2025. We know that in the digital world, many challenges confront us with how we provide information, how we reach people to inform them, and how journalists provide accurate information that does not cause harm.
She added, “We have met to discuss how we will provide information that is not confusing, not half-baked, and we know that women and youth are the most vulnerable to social media.
She also called on the community to form groups of women and youth to fully participate in social media to express their policies and express themselves freely, as the constitution provides for participation.
She said that these groups are often afraid to participate because they are insulted, sexually harassed, and afraid of being humiliated, and not being left with the background of their relationships with the political parties they come from.
“The Internet provides an opportunity for everyone to speak out and express their opinions, so everyone should use it.
For his part, Njoki Kariuki from the Global Action piece building initiative said they are training journalists to be careful in their work to avoid panic or inappropriate news.
“We are talking about misinformation We have seen that we should talk to journalists because they are giving people information to explain to them to avoid giving out misinformation, strong language, and false information, and there are words that cause panic. We tell them to be careful and do an investigation to find out where the information came from, when, and what the purpose is to avoid giving out incorrect information.”
She called on journalists to educate the community about respecting the dignity of women, especially on the Internet, who are candidates for various positions, but to put forward their policy arguments.
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