Cameroon governmentt launches recruitment of 1,000 youths to fight fake news online

The Cameroon government is seeking to recruit 1,000 young people who will volunteer to fight against fake news, hate speech and other uncivil behaviours online.

The call for application was launched on January 16 by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Civic Education, which seeks to make the youths “social media patriots.”

It is also part of a civic and national integration e-campaign the Ministry is implementing.

These new recruits will be expected to promote good behaviour online, promote patriotism and living together as well as publicize government information on new socio-economic programs and opportunities for youths on the Internet.

Apart from being Cameroonians of at least 18 years old, applicants are expected to fulfill several criteria before they can be recruited, the Ministry said.

They must own social media profiles and sites with at least 1,000 followers. They should not have participated in any fake news or hate speech campaign or having published any obscene or unpatriotic content.

The social media patriots will have to carryout several tasks including “promoting civic and patriotic behaviour on social networks , as well as fight against the depravity of morals and the spread of fake news, hate speech in social networks and in the internet,” the Youth Affairs Ministry said.

It added that the initiative aims to redirect Cameroonian youths from posting unhealthy content on social networks, a problem that the government has battled with for some time now.

Cameroon’s Ministry of Posts and Telecommunication has fronting a campaign to encourage youths to use social media responsibly.

The national campaign to promote the culture of cyber security took Minister Minette Libom Li Likeng to several regions of the country last year where she sensitised university students on the responsible use of social media.

Mimi Mefo Info