The Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Sulemana Braimah, has questioned the one-year prison sentence imposed on TikToker Camilla Alhassan for publishing false information about President John Dramani Mahama.
In a Facebook post, Mr Braimah said while those who deliberately spread false information should be held accountable, imprisonment was not always the most appropriate response to misinformation.
“The reported one-year prison sentence handed to TikToker, Camilla Alhassan, for publishing false information about President Mahama should concern all of us,” he wrote.
He stressed that he did not support the deliberate publication of falsehoods intended to defame or mislead the public, noting that such acts could damage reputations, fuel hatred and weaken democracy. However, he argued that criminal punishment alone would not solve the growing problem of misinformation.
According to him, Ghana’s social media space has become flooded with misinformation, insults, character assassination and political propaganda, adding that the problem extends beyond one individual.
“We cannot jail our way out of a culture of insults and falsehoods that has become normalised,” he stated, arguing that imprisoning offenders would not address the root causes of the problem.
Mr Braimah called for a broader national response, including stronger civic and media literacy, responsible public communication, and political leadership that discourages the spread of false information. He also urged political parties to stop rewarding individuals who spread propaganda and misinformation.
He said victims of intentional false publications should have access to effective civil remedies such as apologies, corrections and compensation where appropriate.
Mr Braimah further called for efforts to promote a culture in which truthfulness is valued and falsehood is socially discouraged.
He concluded by appealing to President Mahama to consider granting Camilla Alhassan a presidential pardon, expressing the hope that she would use the experience to become “an apostle of truth, not lies.”
Camilla Alhassan was sentenced to one year in prison by an Accra Circuit Court after pleading guilty to charges of offensive conduct and publishing false news. She admitted posting videos on TikTok falsely claiming that President Mahama had sacrificed 32 cows in a ritual to secure political power.
This version follows a conventional newspaper structure, attributes opinions to the speaker, avoids endorsing his views, and ends with the background to the case.
Ghana|Atinkaonline.com|Ebenezer Madugu