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NEVER UNDERMINE SOCIAL MEDIA PROPAGANDA – SENATE PRESIDENT

By Sabelo Ndzinisa | 2022-08-12

Lobamba -Senate President Lindiwe Dlamini has warned that the country cannot afford to undermine the strength of propaganda on social media platforms.
Dlamini’s statement comes in the wake of what senators have described as a ‘chaotic situation’ in the kingdom.

She made this observation during the debate of the ministry of foreign affairs first quarter report with senators yesterday.

Foreign Affairs Minister Thulisile Dladla had informed senators that she was warned not to undermine propaganda during a recent visit to Serbia.

“Serbia people were surprised to learn the truth of how democratic Eswatini is and how well the Tinkhundla system works for the nation. This is contrary to what is being portrayed in some platforms and it was for that reason that the people I spoke to in Serbia warned that we should never undermine the strength of propaganda because it has the capacity to destroy,” she pointed out.

The Senate president concurred with the minister’s submission about the dangers of propaganda.

“What is Cabinet doing about the propaganda that is being pushed against the country? Government must find a way to deal with that issue because propaganda can destroy. The danger of propaganda is that once a wrong narrative is allowed to trend for more than four days, people start believing that inaccurate information,” she warned.

Dlamini made an example of the recent threats shared on social media, resulting in some people not reporting to work.

“It is now easy for faceless people to influence citizens with propaganda on social media platforms, which in turn paints a very wrong perception about the state of affairs in the country. We can only hope government will find a way to deal with the propaganda issue,” she appealed.

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