Empowering the Voices That We Need to Protect with SnooCODE

 
 

A dangerous yet newsworthy story. The concerned but oblivious public. When the news is out, it is the media against the accused.  Whose side do we take, who is telling the truth?

As the fourth estate, the media is crucial to democracy. They inform and educate the public on all topical issues – dangerous or not. It’s no wonder that there are so many media threats, harassments, and assassinations, all of which undermine Media Freedom. 

This is why this year’s International Day of Democracy is so important. Every year, the UN celebrates the International Day of Democracy to drive democratic systems like the media, elections, accountability, law, and order. This year, the focus is on the media.

The International Day of Democracy is dedicated to promoting government’s role in maintaining transparency among all member nations of the UN Charter and to celebrate the system of values that democracy promotes, giving citizens the power to make decisions regarding all aspects of their lives. Guess who will be playing watchdog, and educating the public about their democratic rights – the media!

Unfortunately, efforts from the media to put out certain information turns futile with the sources and evidence being questioned by the public, especially when the information being put out questions the reputation of people they entrusted with the power to represent them in national decision making. It is usually the media against the accused backed by the general public.

The rather influential and unscrupulous minority behind these acts possess such power that if the media is going to spill such truths, then (sadly), they need to be “silenced.”  They manipulate the public into silencing the media through cyber bullying and intentional SEO restrictions and legal harassments.

Thankfully, SnooCODE exists. With SnooCODE’s verification system,  the media is  better protected and can carry more substantial evidence when presenting news to the public. 

The SnooCODE system generates a verification key which includes evidence of location and time.

Any information generated at that moment and the captured material itself cannot be altered even from SnooCODE’s backend. 

For instance, the recent presidential elections in Kenya saw a minor misconstruction when the opponent Raila Odinga challenged the results. Investigations were carried out with several sources contacted to compare the pictures of the results that were taken on the day of elections to ensure they had not been manipulated in anyway. With this instance, the original photos that would have been captured by SnooCODE’s verification system would still be maintained and verified, with its own unique code. As long as the primary document is authentic, the SnooCODE verification system assures you that whatever has been captured is an original document and also backs the source.

As we draw the curtain on this year’s International Day of Democracy, let’s keep in mind that there is a growing number of tools and platforms that can be used against journalists as means of surveillance, identification and harassment, and any breach to online life also puts physical life at risk. 

With SnooCODE’s verification system we can now tell we can now truly question the transparency or lack thereof from the people we have selected to lead us.

Let us come together  to reinforce the importance of digital systems that still function efficiently whether offline or online, like SnooCODE. work for the greater benefit of the people.

#Internationaldayofdemocracy #democracy #snooCODE #snooCODERed #protectingthemedia #presentingthetruth #addressingsystems #emergingtechnology #smartcities

 
Harriet Ofori