ABSTRACT

In recent years, concerns about the perceived increase in the amount of “fake news” have become prevalent in discussions about media and politics, particularly in the United States and Europe. However, debates around “fake news”, even if some object to the use of the term due to it being loosely defined, appear to speak of processes that occur not only in the Global North but also elsewhere. In Africa, mis- and disinformation campaigns have been used to influence political agendas, and governments have responded with countermeasures. This article explores the phenomenon in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa using data from a two-wave online survey (N = 1847). We find that perceived exposure to disinformation is high, and that trust in social and national media is low. We also identify a significant relationship between higher levels of perceived exposure to disinformation and lower levels of media trust in South Africa. The limitations of this study, which focuses on a subset of the population that is highly educated, the implications of our findings, and recommendations for future research are discussed.

摘要

近年来，在有关媒体和政治的讨论中，尤其是在美国和欧洲，对“假新闻”数量增加的担忧日益普遍。但是，围绕“虚假新闻”的辩论，即使由于其定义过于宽松而反对使用该术语，似乎也谈到了不仅在全球北部而且在其他地区也发生的过程。在非洲，误传和虚假宣传运动已被用来影响政治议程，各国政府对此采取了应对措施。本文使用两次在线调查得出的数据探讨了肯尼亚，尼日利亚和南非的现象（N = 1847）。我们发现人们对虚假信息的感知程度很高，而对社会和国家媒体的信任度却很低。我们还发现在南非，较高水平的虚假信息曝光与较低水平的媒体信任之间存在显着关系。这项研究的局限性集中在受过高等教育的一部分人口上，讨论了我们的发现的意义以及对未来研究的建议。