Facebook bans investigative report unmasking people behind mining in forest reserves in Ghana

Facebook has banned links of an investigative report from being shared on the platform. A number of Ghanaians shared the report by The Fourth Estate news website, but Facebook removed it claiming the story ‘went against its community standards’. Facebook removes the link, even when it is shared in the comments.

The Fourth Estate is an investigative reporting news outlet. It is the online publication of the media advocacy organisation Media Foundation for West Africa. The Fourth Estate does investigations of corruption, human rights abuse, bad governance among others. But on Thursday September 5, 2024, a widely publicised story they did uncovering the faces behind one of the monstrous acts of impunity in Ghana – mining in forest reserves has been banned by Facebook.

The story is titled: “Forest Invasion: Companies owned by Wontumi, Kumasi mayor & others scramble to mine in Ghana’s forest reserves”.
The effects of mining in Ghana, most of it small scale mining and illegal mining known as ‘galamsey’, have been destroying forest reserves, farms and water bodies across the country.

The investigative report revealed the names and faces of government appointees and ruling party officials behind the heinous acts, and goes into the heart of a problem that has continued to shock many well-meaning Ghanaians who feel frustration as a result of the inaction of the state in curbing, curtailing or bringing to an end the unimaginable activities of unregulated mining that have continued to pollute rivers, lakes and streams and destroy farmlands at a time the country is facing a food crisis – a food crisis that the Minister of Finance has said would become full blown unless Parliament approves an amount of GH¢8.36 billion, GH¢500 million of it from the contingency fund for the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to initiate a programme to stop the current food crisis from becoming full blown.

It’s curious how Facebook is killing investigative journalism by removing links of investigative reports that serve the larger public interest.

By Emmanuel K Dogbevi

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