Cameroon: Battle for the truth, stop the misinformation that divides the nation
In the current media landscape of Cameroon, saturated with content blending news, rumors, and targeted manipulation, a new civic duty is emerging for every citizen: to cultivate healthy skepticism. In the face of prefabricated narratives and often orchestrated analyses particularly from certain local online media outlets that have openly taken sides in the post-election crisis the greatest mistake would be to accept every piece of information as gospel truth. The time has come for critical vigilance, an act of everyday patriotism.
Countering media poisoning is not achieved solely through official denials, but through individual and collective resistance. It begins with a simple reflex: verification. Before sharing, commenting, or reacting with outrage, it is crucial to pause.
Where does this information come from? What is its primary source? Which media outlet, Cameroonian or foreign, reported it first? This elementary caution defuses the spread of toxic narratives that fuel tensions and undermine social cohesion.
This work of discernment is all the more vital as manipulators excel at dressing disinformation in the clothes of truth.
They use repurposed images, truncated quotes, or partisan extrapolations to serve a political agenda that is often external.
To believe and relay such content without filtering is to become, often unconsciously, an agent of division and instability. In times of crisis, unverified information is a spark that can set the prairie ablaze.
Thus, protecting social peace becomes a shared responsibility in the digital space. Every family, every WhatsApp group, every circle of friends must become a zone of vigilance. Sharing verified information is an act of construction.
Sharing a rumor is potentially an act of destruction. Cameroon’s stability, unity, and narrative sovereignty are also at stake on smartphone screens.
Ultimately, this is a call to elevate the collective consciousness. It is not about falling into generalized paranoia, but about adopting strict information hygiene. By refusing to consume and propagate toxic narratives, Cameroonian citizens reclaim their power.
They cease to be manipulated spectators and become enlightened actors in their own history.
The nation now needs, more than ever, this army of vigilant citizens capable of distinguishing the light of information from the fog of propaganda.
Baba GADO
