Cellphone and Internet access helps – and hinders – accurate reporting in Kenya

The first real test of cellphone mobilization occurred in the Phillipines in 2002, reports The Christian Science Monitor. And experts say South Koreans changed the outcome of the 2002 election by using SMS messaging and the alternative news site OhMyNews.

But relying on user-generated content – without adequate fact-checking – can mean that information is skewed or falsified to inflame passions. The Rwandan media played a major role in inciting genocide in 1994. Last year, protests over an Asian-owned company's plans to cut down a national forest in Uganda resulted in at least one death, and the protests were reportedly organized through cellphone text messages, the BBC reported (though the link between messages and the killing was not formally established).

The US blogger Erik Hersman, who runs the White African, writes that web developer David Kobia, part of the team behind Ushahidi.com, is likely to abandon Mashada, another widely used forum about Kenya, since the online forum's verbal exchanges began to resemble the situation on the ground.

The post-election violence in Kenya is horrible. Most of the people who use Mashada are part of the Kenyan diaspora based in the US and Europe, but also a healthy amount from Kenya. So, the vast majority of people using it are seeing and hearing about the atrocities happening to their friends and family and are rightfully upset.

However, that does not excuse the rampant and vitriolic discussions that have been taking place online. Choosing to resort to verbal thuggery, taunts and threats is not the answer.

Organizers behind Ushahidi.com said they understood that false rumors could have major repercussions: more violence. As a result, they enlisted Daudi Were, a Kenyan blogger, who uses government sources, aid groups' information, and press reports so the site can verify each citizen report, reported Public Radio International.

In an e-mail to The Christian Science Monitor, Ms. Okolloh, said the site continued to work on verifying reports of violence.

The citizen contribution has been encouraging but not as strong as we'd hoped for. Partly because we've not been able to get much local awareness going - mainly relying on other blogs, word of mouth to spread the word. We are looking at buying ads in mainstream media/radio to help. Also [nongovernmental organizations] on the ground are a bit reluctant to share data because they don't want to be seen as contradicting the government statistics/information - we are working hard to try and get them on board though.

Others in African media are also acutely aware of the ease with which instant communication can spark controversy. Mohammad Abubakr, who works at Kenya's Pamoja FM, told The Christian Science Monitor.

We're doing news, but we don't incite people.... We don't tell them [who should be] president, and make them want to fight. We tell them the situation in Kibera, which shops are open, where there is food, where there is fuel, where they can buy airtime for their cellphones.

Another hindrance is the so-called digital divide," and many Africans do not have access to mobile phone technology, although The New York Times reports that cellphone use is increasing by 30 to 40 percent per year.

With the recent violence, another factor is in play, reports Public Radio International: As vendors who sell prepaid phone cards close amid the violence, cellphone credits are also in short supply.

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