FactCheckAfrica Launches AI to Combat Fake News, to Begin Fellowship

• Africa’s leading fact checking platform, FactCheck Africa, has launched an AI-powered platform to combat the proliferation of misinformation in Nigeria
• The AI, named MyAIFactChecker, will be able to to operate in Africa major local languages, which will make it accessible and operable by many
• The organisation noted that its intention is to cripple the burgeoning influence of misinformation and disinformation in the continent

Africa’s top anti-fake news digital platform, FactCheckAfrica, has announced the launch of an AI-infused platform to assist journalists and ordinary citizens in verifying the accuracy of information.

The organization, an initiative of BrainBuilder Youth Development Initiative (BBYDI), a non-profit organization based in Nigeria, is funded and supported by the UK’s British Early Childhood Education Research Association (BECERA) and the US State Department.

FactCheckAfrica’s new AI is free and accessible to anyone with phone and data.
Image: Getty Images X/FactC_AfricaSource: Twitter

The organisation was founded in 2022 to address the unchecked rapid spread of misinformation and propaganda across the continent.

The innovative platform was made public on Monday, April 22, with the aim of completely transforming how Nigerians and Africans approach suspicious news.

Abideen Olasupo, the Global Director of BBYDI, stated that the innovation, MyAIFactChecker, is the result of a long period of mental and physical investment to bring about what is available today, all with the betterment of society at heart.

Olasupo shared that the platform features a user-friendly interface and is embedded with a responsive chatbot, allowing for convenient and fast verification of claims originating from anywhere, whether social media or other online news sources.

He said:

“It is worthy to note that 2024 is a year of elections in Africa as about 24 countries on the continent will hold elections this year. During electioneering periods, there is always a proliferation of fake news, and its attendant consequences could negatively impact the electoral process. With the launch of MyAIFactChecker, we are poised to curb the spread of misinformation and disinformation before, during, and after elections in these affected countries”

FactCheckAfrica AI Fellowship

FactCheckAfrica announced during the launch that it had initiated a 3-month AI Journalism Fellowship aimed at equipping the best minds in the West African continent with the skills to effectively use the cutting-edge AI-enabled platform.

The Executive Director of BBYDI, Nurah Jimoh, also mentioned that the organization organized a CivicTech Hackathon last year to address voter apathy.

She said:

“We also launched evit.ng to track and report violence pre and post-election. We also unveiled conflictreport.org to curb the farmer-herders crisis in the northern part of the country”

Source: TheTalk.NG

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