The Africa Fact-checking Fellowship – Ethiopia (AFF-ETH) is aiming to develop a network of citizen fact-checkers that can recognize and combat false information in Ethiopia. Having successfully gone through the fellowship, alumni will be more knowledgeable content producers who will share their knowledge with coworkers and peers. As a result, people will feel more motivated to develop and spread verifiable information as they become more aware of the negative repercussions of misinformation. They will work to improve online information’s integrity and veracity (based on facts) as well-known advocates for digital rights.

The fellowship is designed to help individuals and organizations working in media, peace-building, civic engagement, conflict resolution and diaspora or refugee Ethiopian community engagement better understand hate speech and how it can be mitigated in Ethiopia. The fellowship will gather multipliers of active influence in the community on combating hate speech and creating counter-narratives for awareness-raising against hate speech. The fellows will represent various societal stakeholders, notably youth movements, educational organizations, local authorities, equality bodies and human rights CSOs.

Expected impact of the fellowship:

AFF-ETH ‘Alumni’ will become better-informed content creators in Ethiopia, bringing their expertise back into their working and peer environments. As a result, users’ ownership increases in understanding the effects of disinformation and taking decisive action to create and promote verified information. As recognized digital rights defenders and part of the newly created network of local fact-checkers, they will work to contribute publicly to information accuracy and media literacy by enhancing the quality and health (fact-based) of information shared online. 

The fellowship will result in building digital resilience as the fellows and the people they reach after the training will have a deep understanding of the effects of online propaganda, fake news, fear and hate speech, which will, in turn, enable them to employ counter-strategies which will foster digital democratic resilience.