Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah says misinformation if not managed properly, will undermine Ghana's democracy.
The Minister made these remarks at the launch of ghanatoday.gov.gh in Accra on Monday.
Speaking at the launch, Mr. Oppong Nkrumah said "Misinformation if not managed will undermine Ghana's democracy hence the launch of the website"
He added that the levels of misinformation the country is experiencing today would not have happened if sussesive administrations and government equipped the ISD.
He touched on the inability of the department to keep up with the ever-changing media landscape and the technology that goes with it.
He called for the support of all for the ISD now that the government has resourced it.
"The website named ghanatoday.gov.gh is intended to aid the Department in the fight against misinformation by providing direct information from Ministries, Departments and Agencies about the works of government and becoming a repository of all happenings in government" he noted.
The Information Minister also explained that the website is also expected to provide facts about government projects and programmes, full texts of all speeches by heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies, official communications and publications, policies and program documents to reduce the level of misrepresentations and sometimes outright misinformation online.
The Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah noted that he was confident that the ISD would be able to provide timely and credible information from across the country.
The Minister's confidence steams from the fact that the ISD has department and officers in all 16 regions and 261 districts and would be able to feed the website with accurate and timely information.
"The ISD now has a state-of-the-art research department, an ultra-modern Public Relations Coordinating Division, and a Media Division which will ensure that the Department becomes a very vibrant institution for the dissemination of authentic information on government in order to keep the public well informed"
WHY ISD IS EMBARKING ON THIS PROJECT
He indicated that a significant section of the Ghanaian population now rely on online platforms and other social media platforms for information.
He observed that some unscrupulous persons now use many of these portals and social media platforms to propagate falsehood and misinformation.
The Acting Chief Information Officer, Mr David Owusu Amoah, on his part said that the ISD cannot control information due to media pluralism and information overload.
He said the ISD can however manage the kinds of information that are churned out and was very delighted that the website has been set up for that purpose.
He said the ISD will ensure that it's long standing values including objectivity are exhibited on the website.
Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith.
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