Stakeholders call for public information capacitation
MOSA MAOENG
MASERU – Makotoko Moshe says there is need for the public capacitation on misinformation and the right information. Moshe, who is the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on the Prime Minister’s Ministries and Departments, Governance, Foreign Relations and Information Cluster, and was speaking in an interview with Public Eye this week, following the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA-Lesotho) presentation on the establishment of a National Steering Committee on the Media and Information Literacy (MIL) on Monday last week.
In a bid to enable access to information, MISA-Lesotho chapter is embarking on a six-month project Media and Information literacy (MIL) in collaboration with the UNESCO Southern Africa Regional Office.
The policy is intended to be aligned to, and integrated with national policies, regulations and laws guiding and governing access to information, freedom of expression, cultural and religious dialogue, media, libraries, education and digital technologies.
The MIL Policy and Strategy also takes account of empowerment of special populations – young women and, men, people with disability and the LGBTQI community on media and information.
Moshe mentioned that this is not anything that can be done in one day because of financial implications, but indicated that as parliament they could ensure that the public is capacitated enough on access to information and misinformation – especially because they usual hold public gathering exercises.
He noted that he thought the session was informative and it would assist to alleviate the lack of access to information in all groups.
A member of the committee, Machesetsa Mofomobe, in an interview noted he fully supports the establishment of the MIL steering committee adding in fact it is long overdue.
Mofomobe said, “We live in a world where media shapes today’s politics either positively or negatively, therefore it is essential to have bodies such as the MIL,”
He added that Media Literacy encourages consumption of diverse media views, ensuring a broader range of voices and perspectives are heard and represented in the public sphere.
Mofomobe emphasized on the importance of unlimited access to information, saying in every healthy and functioning democracy, citizens must be informed at all times.
He said access to information ensures that government actions are transparent and that public officials are held accountable, and it also serves as a tool for checks and balances.
During the presentation, MISA Lesotho National Director, Lekhetho Ntsukunyane, mentioned before the committee that they had began engaging the public on the project mentioning that they have been to Mohale’s Hoek where they invited not only the community forums but principal chiefs and area chiefs.
He said they have also been to Quthing and Mafeteng on the same mission.
He noted that to achieve success, area chiefs need to continue spreading the word amongst the community members.
According to a MISA presentation at the session, MIL is defined as a set of competencies that are built, knowledge that is imparted and skills that are developed on citizens to empower them to create, access, retrieve, understand, evaluate and use, as well as share information and media content in all formats, using various tools, in a critical, ethical and effective manner.
The presentation continued that MIL is about building a competent citizenry that is not passive as it navigates the various platforms for accessing information, able to assess, evaluate and appraise the information that is at their disposal from a variety of sources.
“Part of this information might pose a threat to the citizens – misinformation, disinformation, mal-information, fake news and hate speech. Aware that the prevalence of the multiple sources of information – social media platforms and digital spaces – the following have been observed:
Huge volumes of information at the disposal of citizens, limited capacities and competencies on how to effectively and optimally utilise these volumes and mountains of information that are at the disposal of citizens, the potential for these platforms – social media and digital spaces to be used by digital/cyber criminals to advance illicit acts such as: Misinformation, Disinformation, Mal-information, fake news and hate speech.
