SOME TIME ago, around 2010 to be exact, Jamaicans were treated to the wonderfully simple yet effective social media news outlet known as On the Ground News Reporting, OGNR, as it was more popularly known. OGNR was a ‘news outlet’ that hired zero reporters, had zero staff, zero budget and zero editorial fact-checking. But none of that mattered, as demonstrated by its popularity on Facebook. The concept was simple: Someone saw something ‘newsworthy’, posted in on Facebook, and if it was endorsed or ‘confirmed’ by someone else, then it would become official news.
I remember OGNR well because it kept me busy countering misinformation and disinformation during the 2010 miliary operation into Tivoli Gardens, when I was still head of communications at the JDF. Thankfully, OGNR’s dubious credentials as a credible news entity were soon questioned and the platform’s popularity took a dive as traditional newscraft exposed its many flaws.
2016 WAS 2010 ALL OVER AGAIN
But history has a nagging way of repeating itself and in 2016, social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, aided by more advanced algorithms and computing power, added a steroidal injection to the formula and ushered in the era of fake news, forcing free press advocates to scramble to safety. After Donald Trump’s first term in office, the world settled down a bit, with Facebook and Twitter moving to erect guard rails against misinformation and disinformation by instituting fact-checking policies and mechanisms on their platforms. But following the return of the Don in 2024, those platforms have ripped off those bandages and have come back in full force.
NO MORE FACT CHECKING
Just last week, Facebook did an about-face and announced a reversal of its fact-checking policy. Fact-checking, it now seems, is so last season as Meta, Facebook’s parent company, announced that it would be ditching its third-party fact-checking program in the United States. The move was framed as a commitment to free speech, but in reality, what it really does is open the floodgates for misinformation, propaganda, and good old-fashioned lies to flow unchecked through one of the most powerful information networks in human history.
That’s bad news for Jamaica. If there’s one thing we’ve learnt from recent events, it’s that an unregulated social media space is a ticking time bomb. If you recall, just last year, a fake online cryptocurrency scam made headlines using the images and likeness of Jamaican personalities such as Michael Lee-Chin, Cliff Hughes, Dionne Jackson Miller, Zach Harding, and Chris Zacca as having endorsed the sham cryptocurrency site. This and other such events forced the Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica (BCJ) to this year launch a national public education campaign to raise awareness about deepfake and other spurious online content.
FACEBOOK IS STILL KING
But this reversal by Facebook is threatening to make all of that effort akin to emptying the ocean with a spoon. Let’s put this in perspective. Facebook is still the dominant social media platform in Jamaica. Despite competition from Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, Facebook remains the go-to news source for thousands of Jamaicans, particularly in rural areas where traditional media access is limited. That means, whether we like it or not, what people see on Facebook shapes their perceptions of reality.
Now, let’s remove fact-checking from the equation. Imagine the next big national crisis, a hurricane, an election, or a crime spree, unfolding in real time on Facebook, without a single reliable mechanism to separate fact from fiction. Imagine government advisories competing with voice notes from an anonymous witness claiming, “di ting set fi get wicked” if people don’t stay inside. Oh. Wait. That last one really did happen. Well, how about a major news outlet reporting on an issue, only to have AI-generated counter narratives spreading like wildfire, turning public opinion against the truth itself.
That’s not a hypothetical scenario, it’s the future we’re heading towards. If this is what misinformation looks like with fact-checking mechanisms in place, imagine what’s coming now that Meta has decided to sit this one out.
Jamaicans cannot afford to take our traditional news media for granted. With Facebook and other platforms loosening their grip on truth-telling, the role of The Gleaner, The Observer, Television Jamaica, CVM, and other reputable sources becomes even more critical. These institutions, flawed as they may be at times, are still our best defence against the tidal wave of misinformation that’s coming.
We’ve also seen where ‘alternative news’ influencers who spin conspiracy theories under the guise of ‘exposing the truth’, are gaining more and more traction. We’ve seen it in the threats and intimidation that journalists face when reporting on corruption or crime. And now, we’re seeing it in the very business model of news itself, because when social media giants stop fact-checking, they indirectly divert ad revenue away from real journalism and towards clickbait and disinformation.
SO, WHAT CAN WE DO?
Well, for starters, we need to buy and subscribe to our local newspapers, and like, follow and share legitimate news outlets on social media. We also need to encourage businesses to advertise with real journalism platforms rather than engagement farmers peddling outrage. We can also become more sceptical. If you see a post that looks sketchy, then simply don’t share it. Fact-check before spreading information. Teach your friends and family, especially those who believe everything they read on WhatsApp, that not all sources are created equal.
We also need to push for greater digital literacy in schools. Our students need critical-thinking skills to navigate this new world, and I have always believed that digital literacy should be a mandatory part of Jamaica’s high school curriculum.
You see, the future of truth is on shaky ground. With Meta stepping back from fact-checking, the responsibility now falls on all of us as readers, journalists, businesses, educators, and policymakers to fight for the integrity of information.
The free press is under siege, not just globally, but right here at home. And if we don’t stand up for the institutions that uphold truth, we will be swallowed whole by the very chaos that disinformation thrives on.
Major Basil Jarrett is the director of communications at the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency and a crisis communications consultant. Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Threads @IamBasilJarrett and linkedin.com/in/basiljarrett. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.
