Trying to Stay Afloat in a Tsunami of Misinformation

By Janine Erasmus

Nobody will dispute that the first four months of the year have been, in political, social and economic terms alike, eventful to say the least. While the world watches for the latest incomprehensible executive order to emerge from the US, and residents wait for the latest news on the health of South Africa’s government of national unity, misinformation continues to spread virtually unchecked - to the extent that it may easily be viewed as a global crisis.

The strategic manipulation of information, when used to spread lies, undermine democracy, and normalise hate speech, has a severe impact on so many aspects of our lives, from the erosion of good governance and social stability, right down to the fracture of personal relations between family members and friends. 

The amount of current misinformation relating to South Africa is deeply concerning to me, as a South African journalist - not only because it outrages me when lies are spoken on the international stage about our country, but also because South Africans are involved in spreading the lies. One example that instantly comes to mind is the so-called “white Afrikaner genocide”, which has become conflated with the recent signing into law of the Expropriation Act. White Afrikaners seem to view the Expropriation Act as further fuel for their campaign of victimhood, because not only is there a determined effort to wipe every Afrikaner farmer off the face of the earth, but now there is also a plot to illegally confiscate their land.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

But the fear-mongering and spread of misinformation continue. This common and widely perpetuated myth is affecting our country’s relationship with the US, and no less an ‘authority’ than the White House is actively entrenching it. While on the face of it, US president Donald Trump is applying punitive measures to South Africa because of its government’s perceived evil treatment of whites, pundits say it is every bit as much a retaliatory move for our country’s genocide case - a real, proven genocide - against US buddy Israel at the International Court of Justice.

Never mind that Afriforum has presented no evidence, beyond what I presume to be anecdotal, of such a genocide. Never mind that no land confiscations (a very different matter to expropriation) have taken place. Never mind that both claims have been debunked so many times by people who can explain it so much better than I, that it is not relevant to discuss it further.

And never mind that the US has its own expropriation legislation, known as the law of eminent domain! This falls under clause 5.9 of that country's Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, which provides for private property to be taken by the state, but also stipulates that such property shall not “be taken for public use, without just compensation” - just as the South African law states.

But aid and support have been cut, among other acts against South Africa and numerous nations. And hypocrisy and misinformation are behind these actions, to a significant degree, especially in our case.

In the words of Prof Ruth Hall, a distinguished academic from the University of the Western Cape and a well-known expert on land reform, “I think that there is a point at which the facts don't seem to matter, and that is the worrying thing about both fake news and a president who acts upon fake news.” Hall was speaking to Newzroom Afrika about the implications of the US’s stance on South African land matters.

Muted right-wing challenges on social media

I have old friends on both sides of the political spectrum in the US. It is often difficult to keep the foundations of friendship separated from the posts on social media, knowing my right-wing friends endorse those wild statements. I tell myself that they are entitled to their opinions, just as I am - but what if those opinions are founded on blatant untruths? How does one deal with them?Just like black mould, however, misinformation is hard to eradicate once it has taken hold. I have chosen to not comment on my conservative friends’ political posts, because I’m pretty sure my efforts will make no difference.

This time around, there are fewer posts - that I can see, at any rate. My right-wing friends were gleefully outspoken on Facebook, the only social media platform we have in common, throughout Trump’s first term in office. Now they have largely fallen silent on that platform, except to complain about the billions of dollars of wasteful spending uncovered by DOGE - revelations that are now proving to be inaccurate - or to rail against the efforts made to bring the illegally deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia back from El Salvador, for instance. Here they condemn him for being a member of the banned MS-13 gang - which accusation remains unproven and has been refuted - and question why Democrat senators should take time to visit him in his South American prison.

“Why don’t they first attend to his victims at home?” one asks, without providing any shred of credible evidence that ‘his’ victims exist. I’m sure there are plenty of victims of gang violence and crime, just as there are in South Africa, but to make these accusations without proof is, to me, a deflection tactic.

Because about Trump and his carrying-on, there is little to be said, whereas in the first administration one could barely share an opinion without digital cries of ‘disrespect’ popping up in response. One wonders if it's because the Trumpian shenanigans are indefensible even for them. 

Sometimes it gets overwhelming, as much as I prefer not to get involved in political social media discourse, apart from the odd comment on group posts, and chatting on my friends’ posts. At times I have simply had to vent, especially at the height of the Afrikaner ‘genocide’ saga - which is not yet over. And yet I have had no push-back. One of my conservative friends did take the trouble to ask me about the reports of land confiscation, and I hope I provided enough clarity and references for them to be assured that it is not happening.

Otherwise, I do not pretend to know much about the tariff debacle, or the dozens of legal challenges to Trump’s executive orders, which come flying out of the Oval Office - or more likely the Trump International Golf Course’s clubhouse - as fast as a swarm of wasps. I follow the analyses and commentary, but there is a lot I don't understand and don't have the expertise to unpack. I hope I do know misinformation when I see it, largely owing to the efforts of CODE and other organisations who advocate for a responsible, non-toxic, and user-friendly (by that I mean conducive to respectful and truthful discussion) digital environment. 

I love my US friends, all of them, and I have met several of them in person and stayed with them during a trip to the US in 1998 - that tells you how long we have known each other. But I have to make a determined effort to not allow these misguided political beliefs to interfere with friendships that have lasted around 30 years. I hope it never gets to a stage where a choice becomes necessary - as I mentioned in the beginning, this is one of the tragic effects of misinformation.