The Information Services Department (ISD) of the Ministry of Information (MoI), has launched a new portal to combat misinformation.
The platform called Ghana Today (www.ghanatoday.gov.gh) will also provide accurate information on government programmes and policies.
At the launch, the Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, said the introduction of the website by the media department of the ISD, formed an integral part of the re-organisation and retooling of government programmes.
“As you may be aware, a significant section of our population now relies on online platforms and other social media platforms for information. It is also important to note that some unscrupulous persons have used many of these portals and social media platforms to propagate falsehood and misinformation.
“This phenomenon is gradually undermining our democracy. The rollout of this website will, therefore, aid the Department in the fight against misinformation by providing direct information from Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) about the works of Government and becoming a repository of all happenings in government,” he said.
Mr Oppong Nkrumah further said the website would provide facts about government projects and programmes, full texts of all speeches by heads of MDAs, official communications and publications, policies, and program documents to reduce the level of misrepresentations and sometimes outright misinformation online.
He expressed his gratitude to the leadership of the media division for developing the portal.
On his part, the Acting Chief Information Officer of the ISD, David Owusu-Amoah urged Ghanaians to make use of the Ghana Today platform and to be vigilant in their consumption of online content.
Mr Owusu-Amoah stressed the need “to take responsibility for the information we consume and share and be mindful of the impact of false information on our society while working together to combat it”.
He hopes Ghanaians will take an active role in the fight against fake news with this new tool.