Misinformation is increasingly threatening public discourse, including on South African university campuses. A new study has found that students either become discerning media users or develop a deep cynicism. In this first episode of For Facts’ Sake, we investigate effective strategies for teaching misinformation literacy.

Read the full study here:

https://cinia.africa/cynical-or-critical-media-consumers-exploring-the-misinformation-literacy-needs-of-south-african-youth/

On World Press Freedom Day, earlier this month, we delved into the economic fragilities facing the journalism industry which have only been amplified by USAID funding cuts. CIIA Director Herman Wasserman was joined by Ruth Moon from Louisiana State University and Khadija Patel from the International Fund for Public Interest Media to discuss the impact of funding on media integrity and what the future of African journalism might look like.

For more information on the work of the CIIA, visit:

https://ciia.africa/

You can also subscribe to our montly newsletter via:

https://ciiaafricas-newsletter.beehiiv.com/subscribe

In this podcast, CIIA researcher Yossabel Chetty chats with News24 Investigative Journalist Kyle Cowan about the recent investigation that he conducted to uncover the identity the person behind an X account, which had been spreading and amplifying misleading narratives about the true state of crime in South Africa.

Links to Cowan's articles, including the detailed investigative steps can be found below. Other articles mentioned during this recording can also be found in the links below:

https://www.news24.com/investigations/x-boer-unmasked-the-ex-farmer-spreading-racism-lies-to-millions-including-musk-trump-20250429-0410

https://www.news24.com/investigations/x-boer-unmasked-how-we-traced-twatterbaas-from-coligny-to-gordons-bay-20250428

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-11-22-how-russia-uses-hybrid-warfare-to-amplify-its-narratives-in-the-south-african-discourse/

Strategic litigation against public participation, known as SLAPPs are becoming an increasingly common tactic by wealthy & powerful individuals to silence critical journalism. This weaponisation of the legal system to hinder investigative journalism poses a significant threat to information integrity in South Africa.

Joining Daniel Roodt to discuss SLAPPs in South Africa was News24 legal journalist, Karyn Maughan, who has been on the receiving end of a SLAPP and media law expert & partner at law firm Webber Wentzel, Dario Milo.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently announced that the company would scale back its content moderation efforts and move to replace it with a community-notes system. This decision has been met with intense criticism from the international fact-checking community, who have claimed it will fuel the spread of disinformation on Meta's platforms.

In this episode, CIIA Director Herman Wasserman is joined by Cayley Clifford, Deputy Chief Editor of Africa Check, and Kavisha Pillay, Executive Director of Campaign on Digital Ethics (CODE), to discuss the implications of this new policy for Meta users in the Global South.

Africa Check: https://africacheck.org/

CODE: https://www.code-sa.org/

Under the Influence is produced by the Centre for Information Integrity in Africa (CIIA) at Stellenbosch University.

https://ciia.africa/

Under the Influence, brought to you by the Centre for Information Integrity in Africa (CIIA) and hosted by Professor Herman Wasserman, is a bi-weekly podcast focusing on topical issues in the complex world of disinformation, information integrity, journalism and the media.