By: Alusine Rehme Wilson
Eleven years since David Rothkopf coined the term Infodemic, Sierra Leone has since 2014 during the Ebola outbreak been battling to overcome banes of mis and dis-information.
The struggles of Infodemic in Sierra Leone led to the widespread inaccurate information about the deadly Ebola virus as well as the COVID-19 pandemic leading to the loss of 100 of Sierra Leoneans between 2014 to 2022.
As if that was not enough, the West African nation would go on to experience an alarming rate of fake News, mis and dis-information about politics and a wide range of issues through social media platforms primarily Facebook and WhatsApp leading to bloody combats between civilians and police.
This Misnomer is becoming quite familiar in the country with the rise of self-acclaimed people's advocates polluting the information space through WhatsApp, Facebook and most recently Tick-Tok calling for faceless peaceful demonstrations that turned out to be politically motivated as successive forensic investigation including the August 10 insurrection's special investigations committee report.
For what could be best described as neglect on the part of the government to adhere to the recommendations of the August 10 special investigations committee has fueled flames of recurring mass disorder and civil disobedience that has escalated in the wake of the nation's multi-tier elections held last year.
Fast-forward to present day, the rate at which false, distorted and inaccurate information especially about the politics of Sierra Leone spreads is becoming a thorn in the flash to normalcy in the country mainly in the northern regional economic capital Makeni where locals have become the must gullible to react to inaccurate news.
Tripartite Infodemic reality was evident by the partial obedience by faceless peaceful demonstrations orders including the on-going rumored three days strike action on WhatsApp that requesting a sit at home to express grievances over the tripartite committee ongoing work which is believed to be one that will not go by the demands of some aggrieved citizens over the 2023 elections outcome.
The tripartite committee of Sierra Leone was established some five months ago to review the West African nation's electoral system following the outcome of the June 2023 presidential and parliamentary pools and make recommendations to prevent reoccurrence of perceived wrongs to foster national peace, tranquility and political stability.
However, since the Sierra Leone Tripartite Committee, a 15-man Committee which consist of seven representatives of the government of Sierra Leone, seven from the main opposition All People's Congress Party (APC) and one member (the United States of America Ambassador to Sierra Leone) representing the international community commenced its work there have been widespread information their mandate which most locals are yet to fully understand.
As the committee prepares to present its long awaited report a dramatic pull out by the representatives of the main opposition party (APC) over alleged rejection of their request for additional data of the June 2023 elections by the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (ECSL) fueled the flames of the rumored three days citizens peaceful strike action nationwide.
Although the APC eventually announced their return to the Tripartite Committee on June 18, the rumors of the planned faceless peaceful demonstrations took center stage on Wednesday, June 19, as most citizens sat at home disrupting normalcy due to the Infodemic over the Tripartite Committee.
While schooling and trading were crumpled on the day across the country, notably, only banks and few stores were opened for normal business in the northern regional economic city of Makeni with less people on the streets than usual being gripped by the Infodemic shared by word of mouth and on WhatsApp, Facebook and Tick-Tok regarding the dealings of the tripartite committee.
Government did respond by assuring the citizens of their safety, urging them to go about their normal business and the president of the nation His Excellency Julius Maada Bio even promised during a recent national address to "frown at and stiffly resist any attempt by anybody trying to disturb the peace of the country."
However, the assurances were made tangible by the emergency of patrol teams of police in the country's capital Freetown and a joint team of personnel of both the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF) and the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) parading across main streets in Makeni and other provincial towns by way of averting possible security threats link to the rumored demonstration.
Yet, the move by the security personnel according to some citizens created panic among them resulting in them staying indoors on the day.
Speaking to AWE-Media Sierra Leone and other members of the press, some citizens say they had decided to stay at home to observe whether the social media rumors they had of a proposed protest was going on as planned.
Others, mostly traders, said they were afraid to go about their normal businesses for the fear of thieves not ransacking their stores during the rumored demonstrations.
Some parents interviewed said they had refused to send their children to school over worries of them being caught in the webs of the rumoured demonstration on their way to school.
Similar sentiments were shared on Facebook by most citizens of Sierra Leone who in fact referred to the day as Tripartite day.
Nonetheless, the recent trend of information pollution and the rising Infodemic poses the need for urgent redress of grievances and mass sensitization of the citizenry of Sierra Leone especially locals in the northern regional economic city of Makeni.
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