The National Media Commission (NMC) has welcomed the formation of the Ghana Fact-Checking Coalition ahead of the 2024 General Election.

The Commission said the initiative was a crucial intervention and would help to counter misinformation and disinformation and promote peace and stability.

A statement signed and issued by Mr George Sarpong, Executive Secretary, NMC, said the initiative “is one of the most crucial interventions needed to protect our nation’s information space in the last lap to the elections.”

The Media Foundation for West Africa, Dubawa, FactSpace West Africa and other civil society organisations working on information integrity launched the Ghana Fact-Checking Coalition on Friday, November 8, 2024.

The Coalition said the initiative formed part of measures “to mitigate the menacing threat misinformation and disinformation pose to the country’s peace, stability and democratic consolidation.”

As the nation prepares to elect a President and Members of Parliament on December 7, 2024, the NMC said it was concerned about the spate of “malign information operations” in the past couple of weeks.

“By choosing to leverage their collective experience, expertise, credibility and resources, the Coalition has enhanced Ghana’s capacity to address these threats and offered hope for the containment of disinformation and Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI),” the NMC said.

The Commission encouraged all stakeholders working to promote peaceful elections to cooperate with the Coalition to make the upcoming elections peaceful and successful

While pledging support for the work of the Coalition, the NMC announced that it would launch what it termed as the Ghana Media Watch App, a technology for monitoring disinformation on Thursday, November 14, 2024.