The Dynamics of the Post-Truth Era in Africa: - History and Critical Thinking

Devita Prinanda

2018

Abstract

The revival of Post-Truth terminology in 2016 marked the new phase of international politics. The election of Donald Trump as President of the United States (US) and the British Exit (Brexit) from the European Union events have turned into Post-Truth events. Although the terminology has thrived in society recently, history has demonstrated that the Post-Truth era has been taking place since post-colonialism in Africa. African leaders have utilised their power to construct the truth, notably at the national level. They were acting on behalf of independence to spread partial truths through state-owned media. However, the continuation of post- truth dynamics in Africa has developed variously and impacted on both national and international politics. This paper elaborates on the dynamics of the post-truth era historically and explains the implications and challenges in a critical way. The results found that the post-truth era in Africa had various contexts for each region. The factors that gave rise to the diffusion of fake news included authority over the media, rumours during the election and post- electoral crises, political and economic instability and the national interest in international politics. The countermeasures in each state were different. The African government has restrained the spread of fake news through legal frameworks, regulation, fake news reporting services and even so far as internet disconnection or internet shut-down.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Prinanda D. (2018). The Dynamics of the Post-Truth Era in Africa: - History and Critical Thinking.In Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Contemporary Social and Political Affairs - Volume 1: ICoCSPA, ISBN 978-989-758-393-3, pages 332-338. DOI: 10.5220/0008821203320338

in Bibtex Style

@conference{icocspa18,
author={Devita Prinanda},
title={The Dynamics of the Post-Truth Era in Africa: - History and Critical Thinking},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Contemporary Social and Political Affairs - Volume 1: ICoCSPA,},
year={2018},
pages={332-338},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0008821203320338},
isbn={978-989-758-393-3},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Contemporary Social and Political Affairs - Volume 1: ICoCSPA,
TI - The Dynamics of the Post-Truth Era in Africa: - History and Critical Thinking
SN - 978-989-758-393-3
AU - Prinanda D.
PY - 2018
SP - 332
EP - 338
DO - 10.5220/0008821203320338