Europe's groundbreaking artificial intelligence law is creating unexpected ripple effects across Africa, where newsrooms are scrambling to develop ethical guidelines for a technology they're already using but haven't fully regulated. This month, transparency obligations under the world's first comprehensive AI law came into force in Europe, and South African media organizations are recognizing they need to catch up fast.

What Is the EU AI Act and Why Should African Newsrooms Care?

The European Artificial Intelligence Act carefully regulates how AI is used for content creation, distribution, and audience engagement, with specific requirements around labeling and transparency. Media companies can be held liable for harmful AI-generated content and must establish ways to demonstrate accountability. For South African newsrooms, the law offers a blueprint for responsible AI use, even though it was written for European contexts.

The challenge is that African newsrooms operate differently than their European counterparts. While legacy media in South Africa (radio, television, and print) must compete with social media for audience share, they're bound by professional standards that social media platforms are not. The Press Council of South Africa (PCSA) acts as guardian of the Press Code of Ethics and Conduct, and it's already grappling with how to regulate AI-generated content that isn't clearly labeled.

How Are South African Newsrooms Currently Using AI?

A new study by the Centre for Information Integrity in Africa (CINIA) reveals a troubling gap between AI adoption and AI governance. The research found that South African newsrooms use AI for research, translation, summarizing material, and content creation, as well as for distributing material at speed and scale. However, the study discovered that few newsrooms have developed clear AI policies.

The CINIA study uncovered several concerning patterns in how newsrooms approach AI:

• Ad-hoc adoption: AI use was largely "predicated on whether there is an individual in the newsroom with a keen interest in the technology" and whether they informally teach their peers.
• Lack of transparency: Some journalists reported that certain colleagues were using AI "secretly," while others were unclear about what they were and weren't allowed to do.
• Language and context problems: More experienced staff worried about plagiarism, lazy journalism, and the inability of AI tools to handle African languages, with AI systems mistranslating political or cultural terms because training data lacks African context.

These findings highlight a critical problem: newsrooms are adopting AI without the guardrails needed to maintain journalistic integrity. Professor Herman Wasserman, CINIA Director, noted the disconnect between enthusiasm and preparation.

"Although there was great enthusiasm among South African journalists about the potential and possibilities of AI for journalism, guidelines on how to use AI ethically and responsibly were lacking, and more training was needed," Wasserman explained.

Professor Herman Wasserman, Director at Centre for Information Integrity in Africa

Steps for Newsrooms to Implement AI Accountability

The EU AI Act doesn't ban newsrooms from using AI; instead, it requires greater transparency and accountability. South African media organizations can adopt similar principles to build audience trust while maintaining competitive advantage. Here's what experts recommend:

• Establish clear disclosure policies: Media organizations must determine levels of disclosure because AI may be used at various stages of the production process, including writing, research, and image generation. Just as external image providers are credited, AI use should be transparently labeled.
• Implement human oversight requirements: All AI-generated or AI-assisted content must be checked by human journalists, fact-checked, and verified before publication. Newsrooms must be able to explain why AI was used and whether human oversight occurred.
• Develop newsroom-specific AI policies: Rather than relying on informal knowledge sharing, newsrooms need written policies that clarify what AI tools can and cannot be used for, who is responsible for oversight, and how to handle AI errors or hallucinations.
• Invest in journalist training: Staff need education on AI capabilities, limitations, and ethical use. This includes understanding how AI models can produce false information, known as "hallucinations," and how to verify AI-generated content.

Phathiswa Magopeni, Executive Director of the Press Council of South Africa, emphasized that industry discussions about AI use ultimately boil down to media ethics.

"It's basically about verification, accuracy and editorial due diligence," Magopeni stated.

Phathiswa Magopeni, Executive Director at Press Council of South Africa

She added that the two primary focus areas for South African media should be disclosure and explainability. "We need to determine levels of disclosure because AI may be used at various stages of the production process, for example writing, research and the generation of images," Magopeni noted.

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What Happens When Newsrooms Don't Use AI Responsibly?

South Africa has already seen cautionary tales. The Communications and Digital Technologies Department's draft National AI Policy included fake citations generated by AI, embarrassing the government agency. More recently, a Johannesburg acting judge's ruling appeared to rely on "non-existent" case law, likely generated by an AI system without proper verification.

Most instances of inauthentic AI-generated content in South Africa have appeared on social media rather than broadcast news networks, such as deepfakes endorsing political candidates during elections. This is partly thanks to an energetic but underfunded fact-checking community that calls out misleading AI content. However, as AI becomes more integrated into newsroom workflows, the risk of eroding public trust increases without proper guardrails.

Editors already facing staff cuts and pressure to automate operations to compete with online platforms are acutely aware of this risk. The challenge is balancing efficiency gains from AI with the credibility that professional journalism depends on.

How Can African AI Development Address These Challenges?

One promising development is that African developers are seeking to create large language models, which are the AI systems that underpin tools like ChatGPT, that are better equipped to handle African languages and contexts. These models could reduce the mistranslation and cultural misunderstanding problems that South African journalists currently face.

Hendrik Sittig, Director of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung's Media Programme for Sub-Saharan Africa, explained the practical implications of the EU AI Act for African newsrooms.

"The EU AI Act does not force newsrooms to stop using AI. Instead, it requires greater transparency, clear labelling and accountable editorial oversight," Sittig said.

Hendrik Sittig, Director of Media Programme for Sub-Saharan Africa at Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung

He emphasized that "news organisations that use AI will increasingly have to explain how it is being used and who is ultimately responsible for the content they publish".

Looking forward, CINIA's Rejoice Malisa-van der Walt argues that AI regulations for South Africa as a whole need to be dynamic and inclusive as the technology advances. In a news context, that means consulting audiences about their tolerance threshold for AI use in news and identifying the red lines.

Professional news journalism is vital for democracy, and if credibility is the currency of that journalism, South African newsrooms urgently need practical support as AI becomes part of their daily operations. The EU AI Act provides a global reference point, but African newsrooms must adapt these principles to their own contexts, languages, and audiences.