Mahama urges Ghanaian journalists to verify AI-era digital material

President John Dramani Mahama urged Ghanaian journalists to subject digital material to closer scrutiny, warning that artificial intelligence has made fabricated images, video and audio a growing threat to public trust and information integrity.

Speaking at the 30th Ghana Journalists Association Media Awards, Mahama said platforms had widened citizens’ participation in public discussion and their ability to flag community problems. But they could also send false claims to thousands or millions before the facts were established. GhanaFact dated the address to Nov. 7, while the Ghana News Agency reported that the awards were held in Accra on Nov. 8.

Mahama offered a recent example of a video in which people in Liberia exposed poorly executed roadworks. It was recirculated in Ghana with a planted voice-over that falsely presented the episode as a local event. He also said scammers had used AI-generated material to depict him promoting fraudulent investment schemes, prompting people to contact him to ask whether the supposed endorsements were real.

Journalists, he said, should establish where a recording originated, consider what had been left out and confirm what could be verified before putting it on air. Presenters could challenge an assertion during a live discussion before it was repeated as fact.

The awards’ theme was “Celebrating Excellence, Advancing Media Freedom and Combating Hate Speech in the Digital Age.” Mahama said the response to misinformation must not undermine legitimate criticism, freedom of expression or independent reporting, and that Ghanaians must remain able to challenge leaders, expose wrongdoing and hold strong opinions.

He said he had commissioned the Media Foundation for West Africa and the GJA to consult on the new media environment and make recommendations on how it should be managed. The warning echoed verification safeguards urged for Ghanaian journalists by media consultant Percy Amoh Yankey in October, as we reported.

The appeal comes as media-literacy work continues beyond newsrooms. Penplusbytes’ Caravan of Hope campaign, supported by GIZ and DW Akademie, had reached 3,000 people in five Ghanaian districts through local-language videos, public discussions, theatre and role-playing exercises. A DW report updated Nov. 11 said AI was making the manipulation of images, voices and videos increasingly easy.