There is a need for media practitioners within the region to report more responsibly, thus preventing hate speech in journalism, Audiovisual and Communication Regulators of Central African States (ECCAS) have reiterated.

The call was made in Kigali, on Tuesday August 16, during the first ordinary general assembly for the Audiovisual and Communication Regulators of Central African States (ECCAS).

This platform was created during a meeting of ECASS Audiovisual and Communication Regulators in Kribi-Cameroon in December 2021 with the goal of collaborating to promote the cultural, technological, social, economic, and ethical aspects of the media sector in the Central African region.

The inaugural assembly – which is gathering regulators from member states; Cameroon, Chad, Gabon, Congo-Brazaville, Central Africa Republic, Rwanda, Burundi, DR Congo and São Tomé and Príncipe – was hosted by Rwanda Media Commission (RMC).

It is discussing and adopting the platform’s policy, its functions, the election of committee members, discuss ethical issues, and approval of new member countries of the platform.

Cléophas Barore, the Chairperson of RMC -who is also the vice-president of the platform for media regulators of Central African Countries – said that considering the proliferation of hate speech in some African countries, journalists should report responsibly to prevent hate speech.

"We are sharing experience of journalism and ethical issues in our respective countries. This is needed during the digital era for journalism. The regulators are also discussing what should be done to curb proliferation of hate speech in the region,” he said.

The call is made at the time hate speech is on the rise in DRC which is a member of the platform among other countries.

Currently internationally-renowned scholars have expressed concern over what they termed as ‘rapidly growing hate speech targeting Kinyarwanda-speakers in the DR Congo’.

According to Barore, countries in the region should learn from Rwanda’s history where hate speech led to 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, and in which the media played a significant role.

"We need African journalism for Africa. Journalists should tell African stories to Africans and the rest of the world. African journalists should not be telling Africa’s story by sourcing information from media that are outside Africa,” Barore said.

Joseph Chebongkeng Kalabubse, the President of National Communication Council in Cameroon and president of the media regulators’ platform in the region said that the first assembly of the platform could help boost its operations having newly been created.

"We have to tackle hate speech that is triggering violence in our countries. By putting our efforts together, we can take our voice to international level because hate speech is happening elsewhere in the world.

"We could gain power globally to fight hate speech through all social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and others. Otherwise, violence could worsen,” he said.

He added that this should be enforced by media regulators through different ways in the regional countries.

Jean-Marie Vianney Gatabazi, the Minister of Local Government urged journalists to work professionally with the aim of boosting people’s welfare and national development.