Journalists, researchers and regulators say critical thinking, fact-checking and media literacy are essential to prevent genocide ideology.

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They made the call during a dialogue on the media&039;s role in preventing genocide ideology, held at Rwanda Broadcasting Agency (RBA) on Friday, April 10, during an event for the commemoration of journalists killed during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

Genocide researcher Tom Ndahiro said audiences need critical thinking to confront misinformation.

"Fake news is abundant today, but to recognise it requires that you do not already harbour fake news within yourself,” he said. He gave the example of clickbait, saying that when a channel uses it often, audiences learn to avoid it.

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Ndahiro noted that while some media destroyed the country, other media helped the public identify harmful outlets.

Tracing the history, Ndahiro said hate propaganda did not start with Kangura. He cited Kinyamateka between 1958 and 1963, and Temps Nouveaux based in Burundi, adding: "The Belgians used to print announcements which were then distributed to the people.”

Radio Rwanda, then the only radio was there, was used to spread hate speech, he said. Simon Bikindi's songs such as Intabaza were broadcast on the station. In contrast, he said, Umunyamuryango, another Rwandan media, shared accurate information.

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Fact-checking and serving communities

James Munyaneza, the Managing Director of The New Times, said fact-checking is now central to journalism.

"What you see on social media, and what people tell you must be thoroughly checked. Journalists today need that skill more than ever.”

Munyaneza urged journalists to serve local needs, saying they should not be based in Rwanda while trying to align with American interests.

He argued that the genocide-era media was not just driven by a lack of training.

"RTLM, the "Radio Machete", had skilled founders, including some who had studied journalism,” he said.

Munyaneza recalled the media trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), which convicted Jean Bosco Barayagwiza and Ferdinand Nahimana of RTLM, and Hassan Ngeze of Kangura, for public incitement to commit genocide.

Impacts of news should be analysed

Journalism lecturer Liberetha Gahongayire said not everything shared is news.

"If you see that the information is not positively impacting you or building you up, you can stop consuming it, if you are an audience member, or stop publishing it, if you are a journalist," she said.

"The genocide started from an idea. The media played a role in urging people to kill,” she noted.

One tactic, she explained, was aligning propaganda with religion, such as the "The Hutu Ten Commandments” mirroring the biblical Ten Commandments. Another was dehumanisation, calling Tutsis "cockroaches" and claiming Tutsi women were cruel, including the false story that Queen Mother Kanjogera stood on swords above Hutu babies. A third was intimidation, claiming Tutsis kept weapons at home and would kill Hutus first.

Emmanuel Mugisha, the Executive Director of Rwanda Media Commission, said Rwanda has a media policy which requires journalists to operate within media ethics, but citizen journalists remain unregulated.

He called for basic media and information literacy.

"Young people should be conscious, as they could be poisoned by the information they encounter on social media, where there is no regulation yet,” he said.