Danger! Disinformation abounds

Even as we enter the heat of the 2025 Carnival season, we do so recognizing that such festivals and the influx of a wash of fun-seeking visitors have grave security concerns for Caribbean countries. The Carnival wave will sweep through St Vincent and the Grenadines (VincyMas) and then encompass the neighbouring islands of Saint Lucia,Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, and Grenada over the next six weeks.

Great as this is for tourism and earning foreign exchange, it also has grave implications for security in our region. To one degree or another, every one of these countries is suffering from a wave of gun-related murders, overwhelmingly by illegal, high-powered weapons, not legally available in the Caribbean. Barbados, long thought, mistakenly so, to be “safe” is the latest to be affected with this scourge with several daylight shootings, including in the capital, Bridgetown.

Quite naturally, security officials have launched investigations while implementing preventative measures. But even as they take such steps, a more worrying security problem has confronted them. Just as

Barbados is trying to grapple with this crime problem, barely a month before their own festivities, called Crop-Over, a more sinister challenge has confronted the Barbados government.

Last week, a news item was circulated on the internet, purporting to come from the government of the United States, outlining a travel advisory against Barbados. That “advisory” painted Barbados as being an unsafe country for visitors and warns US citizens about travelling to that destination. It naturally created alarm in official circles in Barbados, forcing that country to contact the United States State Department. It turned out to be yet another manifestation of a nefarious modern practice – fake news, spread via the internet.

But that was not the only such dangerous spread of disinformation. A “Press Release” attributed to the government of the Bahamas was circulated giving notice that the Bahamas was withdrawing from membership in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). There has been some criticism from CARICOM members about the level of the Bahamas’ commitment to membership in that regional institution, so the “official” release immediately raised eyebrows. On investigation, however, it was found that the supposed withdrawal notice was itself a fake. It is not yet clear, or at least made public, whether there is any connection between these two dangerous bits of disinformation. There has been however, speculation that they may well be part of a disinformation campaign being waged against the Caribbean by external forces aiming to undermine regional solidarity and confidence in the region and its institutions.

It is well known that there are external forces seeking to undermine regional unity, to weaken confidence in the stability and security of Caribbean nations. But we ourselves, either deliberately for political purposes, or unwittingly, by our eagerness to facilitate the spread of disinformation without verifying its authenticity, are contributing to the undermining of peace and stability in the region.

It behoves us to be far more diligent and be on the lookout for such tactics. There is a wave of general elections scheduled in the region over the next year. These present ideal conditions for the spread of disinformation aimed at not only undermining the trust of extra-regional governments and institutions in our region, but also aimed at our own people and governance institutions. We must also be vigilant in such circumstances as we are about crime, and criminal homicides.