At a time when COVID-19 Pandemic is sweeping across the continent, fake news disseminators are having a field day. Self- christened corona experts have overnight populated social media platforms each prescribing magical portions that can instantly cure the virus. Now Governments across Africa have teamed up with technology giants including Facebook and WhatsApp to fight misinformation about coronavirus online that could spread the pandemic on a continent that is already struggling with the pandemic.

From South Africa, Nigeria to Kenya, health officials are partnering with the messaging service owned by Facebook to send push notifications to users with advice on symptoms and how to avoid infection. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is also getting free ad space on Facebook for outreach about the pandemic, a benefit available to public health authorities in 11 other African countries, and around the world. This is seen as the critical time when authorities should leverage social media in disseminating the right messages when unfounded rumours are proliferating across the internet.

 Some governments are now resorting to punitive measures “. In Kenya, at least two men, including a popular blogger, have been arrested for publishing false information about the virus on Twitter, an offence punishable by up to 10 years in prison or a fine of 5 million Kenyan shillings ($48,000). Public health officials are concerned that such fake news will drive up the number of infections to disturbing levels on a continent beset by overstretched health facilities.

False claims that garlic, beetroot and lemons are an effective alternative to anti-retroviral drugs - endorsed by a former South African health minister - contributed to hundreds of thousands of deaths at the height of the AIDS epidemic in the 2000s, according to Harvard University researchers. And bogus rumours that foreign aid workers were bringing Ebola into communities hampered the response to two major outbreaks in Africa in the past six years. 

Facebook, along with social media competitors including Twitter and YouTube, has already barred users from posting harmful information about Covid-19 on its platforms. The company is working with third-party fact-checkers in 15 sub-Saharan African countries to identify and remove such posts from Facebook, said its regional spokeswoman, Kezia Anim-Addo. WhatsApp is piloting a similar effort in Nigeria, among other countries. As coronavirus pandemic ravages the continent, the authorities are disturbed that such similar false rumours are already surfacing again, amplified by social media.