The French Ambassador to Rwanda, Aurélie Royet-Gounin, has called on journalists to take a leading role in countering misinformation and hate speech, stressing that media professionals remain key actors in shaping responsible public discourse.
She made the remarks during a week-long training for members of the Francophone Media Practitioners Forum (OPFR), which focused on detecting, verifying, and preventing hate speech in media reporting.
Ambassador Royet-Gounin said France’s support to such initiatives is aimed at strengthening responsible journalism, particularly in Africa, where concerns over extremist narratives and genocide ideology remain a challenge.
She noted that the training is designed to equip journalists with stronger fact-checking skills, enabling them to distinguish credible information from misinformation before publication.
Journalists, she added, are better positioned to respond to information manipulation when they are trained to verify sources and ensure accuracy before dissemination.
The Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Rwanda Governance Board, Dr. Usengumukiza Félicien, also emphasized that continuous capacity building is essential for improving professionalism, ethics, and accountability in the media sector.
France has for years supported initiatives aimed at strengthening the capacity of Rwandan journalists to report responsibly and avoid hate speech and genocide ideology, a cooperation that has gained renewed momentum in recent years as bilateral relations between Rwanda and France continue to improve.
