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Social Media Platforms Are Failing @ Removing Misinformation Especially TikTok & YouTube

I have seen more misinformation on social media recently than ever before

By IwriteMywrongsPublished 3 days ago 5 min read
Collage Created By Aurthor

Monday, 1 July 2024

By: TB Obwoge

I write on a platform called Medium and I will never forget this stupid ass video I saw a user post. I didn't know who they were but they knew who I was. Apparently they followed from a post in one of my Medium articles, they never commented on my posts to say who they were.

I watched their posts, even though many of them annoyed me. They posted always about 'decolonize' your mind. I couldn't help but think how did they grow up without people teaching them the truth about Black people, Black history and Africa. 

I often wonder wtf, when I find out so many people were so clueless about Africa growing up, not saying I was an expert however my parents had very diverse friends. Some people don't know until the meet someone African, marry someone Africa or travel to an African country that they find out some information they should've known. Oddly they must have never read a book or watched a documentary.

I can honestly say I didn't care much about Africa growing up, I learned things but didn't hold a personal love or concern. I think it was because I was being so terribly abused during my childhood and even into my adult life.

Either way I continued to watch this persons videos, I watched their videos, even when they annoyed me, but it wasn't intil they shared a video of a Black American woman that said Africa was a country, that the country of Africa kicked France out of Africa.

This was the dumbest shit I have ever heard in my life, the creator she did a duet with was insulted in the comments but only a few people who asked her since when did Africa become a country. 

They didn't ask a lot of question, why she said you can't get news in Africa unless you know someone in Africa, stupid ass comment. She then said that Nigeria had planned to go to war with France, this was the same time that Nigeria and several other ECOWAS countries were planning on invading Niger. I had to comment, she then called me a plant for the west. 

That comment was to save her dumb ass from admitting she had no idea what she was talking about, her video gained several thousand views and shares. That Medium writer refused to delete the video even though it was dead wrong and filled with so much misinformation. 

The worse part is that TikTok thought that her video was perfectly fine.

By the way the woman posting this shitshow of a post had no other posts about Africa, she was a Amazon influencer. Her entire platform was about sellling cheap panties online, this was what someone who wanted to 'declonize' their mind thought was a good idea to do a duet with on social media. 

I stopped following this person long ago, however I am sure they gained their 10,000 followers and now make money from TikTok, sharing bullshit misinformation about African politics I'm sure.

While I get banned for my posts because they are deemed violent or having shocking content. Since her post I have been noticing so many posts on TikTok and YouTube that are misinformation and it angers me so much.

This man was on TikTok planning a coup against the Ghana president, he was even "detained" by the Ghana police, by the way Ghana's military is working with the American troops and the Lion of Africa. Which is a military group of American, European soldiers working with African troops. Senegal, Liberia and Ghana recently had troops in their country. You can find the African Lion project even posting photos on Facebook, this is no secret.

Burkina Faso - Capitain Ibrahim Traoré Misinformation

1. There was a viral TikTok post which stated that it was now illegal to speak French in Burkina Faso since Traoré removed it as the official languge of the country. This post claimed that speaking French in the country was now punishable by a jail term of 25-years. when I saw this I was beyond angry, it was so stupid. Most of the newsoulets in Burkina Faso reported the news in French.

The newspapers were in French, this means that all these people were going to jail for 25-years? How stop and it was viewed a million times and shared over 65,000 times, but you could not do a stitch with it or a duet with it.

Screenshot from YouTube

2. There was an explosion outside of a Burkina Faso news station, the news in the country said that it was a mistake by the army. Captain Troaré visited the station to apologize and he spoke to the staff, answering any questions they had. What was being said was that the news station was about to be shut down for spreading information that was negative about Troaré.

This made some say that they wanted to destroy the building, there is often fake news spreading within Burkina Faso as well. This is why there is a list of approved news outlets.

However the Burkina Faso troops accidently exploded an item and were even taken to the hospital after having this accident.

If people think this is odd, in Ghana around 80% of media and newsoutlets are owned by politicians.

3. There were 3 different YouTube accounts which include the one above, but the other 2 posted misinformation. One of the videos was using a video taken from a Burkina Faso news station, dubed with a horrible AI voice.

There are dozens more, they have all reported various misinformation about Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

Burkina Faso did not mark a milestone, no countries have ever left Burkina Faso. They shift ambassadors around from different countries, they are not sent there forever. As a matter of fact the American ambassador to Ghana left a few months ago, when she left Africans spread lies that she came to Burkina Faso to convince Traoré to rejoin ECOWAS.

In this photo below you can see she's ending her mission in Burkina Faso and was not replaced until the end of June 2024.

Actual Photo of the Facebook Account of the Transitional President of Burkina Faso

Also another YouTube account, the one mentioned prior didn't report in the same month of December 2023, when this US ambassador left others came. Again I have added a photo below.

Sceenshot from Facebook

These are a fresh patch of ambassadors coming into Burkina Faso, dated back to 14, December 2023. So this YouTube account was lying. It was not the first time countries acknowledged his leadership in Burkina Faso. They always have.

Screenshot from YouTube

Key Statistics on Fake News & Misinformation in Media in 2024

The rise of misinformation poses complex challenges for society today. Recent statistics highlight that fabricated content has proliferated across digital and traditional media formats. From false pandemic cures propagated by bots to fake news shared unknowingly by citizens, misinformation has permeated the information ecosystem. This proliferation has been enabled by political agendas, social media micro-targeting, clickbait incentives, deepfake technology, and more.

The result is declining public trust, threats to democratic discourse, and an imperative for collaborative solutions that uphold truth-telling while maintaining free expression. This analysis aims to make sense of the so-called "infodemic" by showcasing key data on the sources, spread, and impacts of misinformation in media in 2023. Quantifying the prevalence provides crucial context for tackling this concerning trend.

Source: Redline

Screenshot from YouTube

All these pages have posted fake news about Burkina Faso, some have posted fake news about other countries in Africa as well.

Thank you for reading 🙏🏽 Please consider buying a coffee for Lacey’s House efforts in Gender Equality & Children’s Rights.

©️TB Obwoge 2024 All Rights Reserved

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About the Creator

IwriteMywrongs

I'm the president of a nonprofit. I've lived in 3 countries, I love to travel, take photos and help children and women around the world! One day I pray an end to Child Marriages, Rape and a start to equal Education for ALL children 🙏🏽

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