Peace Council cautions youth against hate speech

The National Peace Council has cautioned Ghanaian youth against hate speech, misinformation, and religious intolerance ahead of the 2024 general election.Alhaji Sumaila Issaka, the Chairman of the Upper East Regional Peace Council, who made the call said ensuring peace and stability before, during and after the general election required a collective responsibility and the youth were critical stakeholders in that regard.The Chairman was speaking to some youth at a workshop in Bongo as part of creating awareness on the harmful effects of hate speech, misinformation and disinformation about the elections, religious intolerance, and protracted conflicts.The engagement is being sponsored by the United Nations (UN) Peace Building Fund through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and implemented by the Peace Council.The project, rolled out in Bongo, Bawku West, and Garu Districts, aimed to build the resilience of the youth to lead and champion peace activities in their communities for sustained development.The engagement brought together youth and women leaders, community leaders including the Assembly members, chiefs, and opinion leaders, among others.Alhaji Issaka said the youth had been identified as major culprits in the use of hate speech, insults, and other indecent expressions especially during the political season as well as being identified as an active online audience and very susceptible to disinformation and misinformation.'This activity aims to expose the youth to the dangerous and harmful effects of the use of hate speech and other forms of indecent expressions as well as disinformation and misinformation.'The goal of this activity would be to make the youth ambassadors of peace in their communities and so we expect these leaders to go back to their various communities and champion peace during the elections,' he added.Mr Alexander Koomson, the Deputy Director in Charge of Research, Monitoring, and Evaluation at the National Peace Council, cautioned the youth against spreading information without verification, adding that the advancement of technology coupled with the emergence of Artificial Intelligence had made it easy for the creation and spread of fake news.He therefore advised the participants to intensify education on the need to promote peaceful coexistence through fact-checking of information posted on social media platforms especially by political actors before sharing to help maintain the prevailing peace.Mr Edmond Alagpulinsa, a Human Rights Expert speaking on hate speech and information disorder, said the spread of fake news was punishable by law and urged the participants to be cautious with shared informationSource: Ghana News Agency