Misinformation on social media fueled violent WSU student unrest, finds SAHRC

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has found that the spread of misinformation on social media fuelled the unrest at Walter Sisulu University last year.  13 students were shot at - allegedly with live ammunition - during the demonstration.

The commission released its report on the findings, which indicates that students acted on misinformation.  

The human rights commission says a false post claiming that three students had been killed at the university was circulated on social media. 

It also showed video footage of an automatic rifle being fired, which was unrelated to the student protest.  

Human rights commissioner - Eileen Carter says students should have first verified the information.  

“There is responsibility on their part to make sure that the information they receive is authentic and comes with integrity before they act on it.”

The commission has recommended that the SRC develop a protest safety and digital verification toolkit to assist incoming first-year students. 

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