Luanda, ANGOLA, March 21 - The first local elections in Angola, scheduled for 2020, could be a "gateway" to the mass dissemination of fake news on social media, warned Thursday the Brazilian consultant Wellington Calasan de Lima.,

Speaking at the International Conference on the Challenges of the Angolan Mass Media, "Social Media and Elections: The Case of the US and Brazil," said that situation occurred in the last US and Brazilian elections, won by Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro.

 

According to the expert, many politicians use social networks to deceive distracted or uneducated people, a practice that grows in the world at the time of elections.

 

To counter this, he suggested a greater technological investment, ongoing training of journalists and the adoption of strong legislation in Angola, so that the press makes a qualitative leap in the provision of the public information service.

 

"In order to combat this situation, it is urgent to awaken the public information service to the need to improve its work by investing in human capital," he said. "Comfortable lies attract much more than truth.

 

The problem of Fakenews has received particular attention from the Angolan authorities, which seek, with new regulatory mechanisms, such as the Penal Code approved this year, to mitigate the negative effects of these false contents in society.

 

In this regard, Angolan academician, José Octávio Serra Van-Dúnem said that the best way to combat fake information on social media is to bet on citizens' education and to improve the culture of verification of the facts by journalists.

 

In his lecture on "The advent of post-truth and Fakenews," he said that this allows a conscious choice of everything consumed in social networks.

 

For José Octávio Serra Van-Dúnem, the communications companies must be strong and have good journalists, so that the fake news does not surpass the true ones.

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