What happens when disinformation understands the platform better than journalism does? In this episode of CheckPoint: The Podcast, Nkepile Mabuse sits down with Simon Allison, co-founder of The Continent, for a sharp conversation about WhatsApp, African media, and the narrative battles shaping public understanding across the continent.
They unpack how The Continent was born out of frustration with the way Africa was being covered during the pandemic, why WhatsApp became the key distribution tool, and how fake news and malicious actors were quicker than traditional newsrooms to exploit the way information spreads. The conversation then widens into a high stakes discussion about Russian influence operations in Africa, the afterlife of Wagner-linked disinformation structures, and why narrative warfare is not going away. It is a blunt, timely episode about trust, media design, and the cost of surrendering digital spaces to people who know exactly how to weaponise them. #eNCA
