TwoCents | We are Responsible for What We Share

The internet has once again been taken aback with not-so-great videos of a big gun in Equatorial Guinea this early November. Baltasar Ebang Engonga has flabbergasted millions due to several videos of his intimate acts with hundreds of women, including married ones, that were leaked. He is the son to a nephew of President Teodoro Obiang and also the Head of Tax Administration. Being such a prominent figure, one can only imagine how his immediate surrounding should have reacted to this outing.Baltasar is currently warming up the four walls of a prison cell, but not because of the leaked sex tapes. Sources say he is accused of embezzlement. He was incarcerated in late October for that, and he witnessed the flood of leaked sextapes like everyone else.What does this kind of occurence mean for journalists? It is like a plus, meaning they will have a fresh story to provide for their media houses. It is worth noting that a journalist acts as an announcer to the public and has to remain unbiased and indifferent to whatever is going on around them. They just have to relay facts to the public. In this case, several media outlets ranging from blogs to mainstream media have published stories receiving endless reactions. However, other media platforms keep digging deeper because they consider such a case a developing story, given that Baltasar is in prison and may likely face trial.We are responsible for what we share on social media. Be it a screenshot or a forwarded message that we post on our individual pages, we should bear in mind that we are more or less supporting the post, unless we make it clear on the reason for posting. The motto of a journalist is to educate, inform and entertain. There is still the never-ending struggle of journalists pulling strings with bloggers, creating a thin line on where credible and fact-checked information can be found.  It is worth nothing that when information like these, that have the potential of going viral within few hours are released, we should act responsible and search on mainstream media first before relaying at our individual levels.What are your thoughts on this? Let me know in tbe comment section.

Other insights from Suzanne Nanyonge