[imagesource: Policy Lab / Unrest Tracker]

Today is another dark, depressing day for South Africa.

In certain parts of the country, a combination of residents and law enforcement have mobilised to thwart looters, with arrests made and stolen goods recovered.

However, in other parts of the country, it remains a losing battle.

Among the horrible scenes, the spread of fake news and misinformation has run rampant, with officials in Cape Town squashing reports of unrest in Mitchells Plain, which had circulated on social media.

Elsewhere, fake news aimed at stoking division did the rounds, causing fear and panic as residents scrambled to find out which areas had actually been affected.

Some of the more popular examples have already been debunked by AfricaCheck.

Now a tool launched by PolicyLab’s Christopher Wood and Devi Pillay, dubbed ‘Unrest Tracker‘, is trying to push back against misinformation, reports MyBroadband:

[It] tracks incidents of violence, looting, arson, protests and other instability during the ongoing unrest in South Africa… [producing] a dataset of incidents using credible, verifiable reports from the media.

“The map aims to provide a high-level overview of the unrest, to allow for both a better understanding of the big picture of the challenges as they unfold, and to facilitate future learning from this very difficult period,” PolicyLab stated.

The map identifies three separate types of unrest, with an icon for each:

If we zoom in on Durban as a hotspot, here’s what the tracker looks like as of 1PM:

Clicking on the icon brings up a link to a verified news source, detailing what occurred.

For example, if you click on the ‘looting icon’ near Forest Hills, you get this:

That News24 link takes you to this video, showing looting from inside Watercrest Mall:

The tracker is obviously not a totally comprehensive tool, and incidents will only be added once corroborated by official statements, news reports, or clear video or photographic evidence.

In that respect, it will lag behind the instantaneous nature of social media, but you’ll also avoid the panic caused by the troves of dubious information and videos doing the rounds on WhatsApp and the like.

Head here to use the ‘Unrest Tracker’.

Please, please, think twice before sending around unverified claims that only serve to pour fuel on an already volatile situation.

[source:mybroadband]