Six years on and one year away from the next elections in Cameroon, the relatively intact capacity for nuisance of accounts and/or pages stimulating tribal rivalries through the propagation of false information, the influence of purposely created fake news shadow cabinets, the traces and impact of online disinformation campaigns remain indelible and continue to weigh on the current national media landscape. To address this threat to peace, a number of local and regional initiatives have been launched, including the Africa Factchecking Fellowship and the 237 Check open platform run by #defyhatenow / Civic Watch Cameroon, which to date has equipped over 220 media professionals and community leaders in information verification techniques and methods. Over the past few years, these initiatives, led mainly by civil society and some media actors, have succeeded in raising public awareness and sounding the alarm about the dangers of false information. However, with just a few months to go before the upcoming elections, fears of a resurgence of disinformation and propaganda campaigns remain strong, especially given the information dynamics currently taking place on social media and in the press in relation to public governance, socio-political and even football issues.

Understanding the relationship between elections and disinformation 

Elections constitute an important moment in a process of democratization in Africa. It’s the indicated means of ensuring the orderly process of leadership succession and change and an instrument of political authority and legitimation. The failure of having credible elections or their absence is considered as a symbol of political dictatorships and personalized rule by the international community. Electoral process is the longest moment of the electoral cycle and it can be divided into three key phases: pre-voting, voting, and post-voting. Credible and transparent media coverage is crucial to ensuring greater citizen participation, strengthening social cohesion and promoting democracy.

The treatment and quality of information provided by the media is therefore particularly important at this time, as it could have a decisive impact on the outcome of the election, the turnout and, above all, the consolidation of peace. Nevertheless, in today’s digital age, disinformation appears to threaten the integrity of elections.

In Cameroon, as in most other African countries, misinformation or false rumours (the term ‘false rumours’ is more commonly used in sub-Saharan African legislation to describe fake news) are spreading rapidly thanks to widespread access to digital platforms such as WhatsApp, which is used more for private exchanges. The electoral experience of Gambia in 2021 and Nigeria in 2019 illustrates the role that WhatsApp can play in amplifying the proliferation of false information influencing the voting process and citizen participation.

On the other hand, the traditional and complex word-of-mouth information ecosystem sometimes perpetuates prejudices and false narratives developed in a context where Internet access does not reach 50% of the population. In such an environment, false information spreads rapidly, fuelling violence and political tensions because local communities have very few means of checking the data or content they receive.

In addition, socio-economic inequalities and exacerbated ethnic tensions, which are reinforced by biases and regularly used by politicians to manipulate the masses, also constitute a vector for disinformation. This observation is corroborated by the analysis of Anuragini Shirish and Kanika Kotwal revealing that a higher level of economic development of people in a State curbed its fake news propensity. In Africa instead, political actors work to construct ethnic enemies by maliciously exploiting weaknesses in information systems, hate speech and the fabrication of imaginary stories aimed at mobilising popular support for their personal interests during elections. In other words, repeated exposure to fake news and conspiracy theories help fuel hate speech, social polarization and violent extremism (Hassan et al. 2019). This has the effect of dividing communities, most of whose members do not always have the critical ability to properly analyse the truth from the false, or to identify the real causes of the social, political and economic problems they face, or to help formulate and monitor effective responses as it’s explained by Steven Livingston.Also the cases of Kenya’s elections in 2022 and Nigeria’s elections in 2023 prove that local politicians are increasingly using disinformation as a strategy to acquire popular supports.

 So, to avoid a repeat of catastrophic experiences in other countries and given that socio-political stability and the promotion of peaceful coexistence depend to a large extent on the establishment of a credible national information system made up of dynamic agents capable of producing and disseminating good information in a timely manner while respecting human rights, the 10th cohort of the #AFFCameroon program is one of #defyhatenow’s leverages for strengthening the capacities of mainstream and digital media, improving access to good information and developing intra-societal and community communication.

Perspectives for cohort 10 #AFFCameroon

The main objective of this 10th cohort is to improve understanding of the phenomenon of disinformation in real time, especially with the advent of artificial intelligence, in order to develop strategies to prevent people from adhering to conspiracy theories by defusing election-related fake news. To ensure that the conduct of elections poses no threat to peace, it is important that citizens have sufficient access to reliable information. For the coordinator of the Africa Factchecking Fellowship, Donald Tchiengue, the #AFFCameroon fellows must be upstream and downstream of the circulation of good information, helping to shape democratic debate and public opinion by preventing and mitigating fake news while producing verifiable and verified information. 

As peacekeepers, these media professionals (journalists and bloggers) and community leaders must give themselves a mandate to track down and denounce any attempt to influence or manipulate the masses online and offline. To this end, during their training they will be trained and equipped to:

• Verify claims made by politicians and media outlets, ensuring that information disseminated to the public is accurate and reliable. Through investigative content and factchecking articles to be publish on www.237check.org they should debunk disinformation campaigns and tactics employed to manipulate public opinion
• Educating the public through meetups on how to identify and discern misinformation, equipping individuals with the necessary tools to navigate the complex landscape of information 
• Promoting media and information literacy by promoting in-depth analysis to voters for them to have the necessary insights to make informed decisions.
• Contribute to the establishment of a monitoring and fact-checking unit in their media’s organization in other to be trusted sources of information. The purpose is the level of transparency about their sourcing and reporting processes, fostering trust and credibility among their audience.

In an era where the lines between fact and fiction can often blur, this contribution of #defyhatenow with the factchecking program #AFFCameroon is to promote democracy and transparency for the vital need of peace and social cohesion for a #HateFreeCameroon.

Contexte

L’initiative #defyhatenow vise à mobiliser l’action civique et numérique pour contrer les discours de haine et l’extrémisme violent en ligne et hors ligne. En essayant de fournir des solutions basées sur des données, l’initiative utilise le programme #Tech4Peace comme outil de résolution de problèmes dans les zones touchées par les conflits. La construction technique de la paix implique l’application de l’expertise et des connaissances techniques pour soutenir les efforts de construction de la paix dans les zones touchées par les conflits. L’utilisation de la technologie pour apporter la paix à une communauté implique de tirer parti d’outils et d’approches innovants pour aborder les problèmes, favoriser le dialogue et promouvoir la cohésion sociale. #defyhatenow estime que former les étudiants à l’utilisation de la technologie pour construire la paix est un excellent moyen de rassembler les communautés depuis qu’Internet a fait du monde un village global. En tant que bâtisseurs de paix techniques, les boursiers seront initiés et formés à la manière de changer les récits dans une communauté par le biais de la communication et du partage d’informations, de la narration numérique, de l’éducation et de la formation en ligne. Cela permettra aux étudiants et aux professionnels du secteur technique de soutenir les programmes d’action communautaire dans les zones de conflit et de renforcer leurs efforts d’engagement. 

Impact attendu de la bourse: 

La bourse #Tech4Peace vise à construire un réseau de bâtisseurs de paix techniques en permettant aux étudiants universitaires récemment diplômés et aux jeunes experts techniques de s’engager avec les communautés #defyhatenow grâce à des opportunités de sensibilisation communautaire technique dans les domaines de la conception, du développement technologique, de l’IA et de la création de contenu numérique, ainsi que du matériel. 

Méthodologie

Le programme est basé sur un modèle d’apprentissage mixte utilisant des webinaires, des leçons pratiques, l’apprentissage entre pairs et le travail pratique sur le terrain dans les centres sélectionnés et avec les organisations communautaires assignées.

Les boursiers participeront à quatre mois d’engagement pratique, en commençant par un mois de construction de la paix numérique, d’opposition à la désinformation et de lutte contre les discours de haine.

Ils passeront ensuite un autre mois à apprendre par leurs pairs afin d’améliorer leurs compétences techniques.

Ensuite, ils seront affectés pendant deux mois à des organisations communautaires jumelées, où ils mettront leurs talents au service de l’organisation, mais apprendront aussi l’engagement communautaire auprès de l’hôte.

Pendant les deux mois d’apprentissage, les boursiers auront accès aux Hubs, où ils s’engageront avec des pairs, utiliseront des kits d’outils matériels et participeront à des cours d’apprentissage en ligne.

Calendrier

Juin, juillet, août et septembre 2024

Qui peut postuler ?

Les jeunes diplômés et les professionnels qui possèdent des compétences dans l’un ou l’autre des domaines suivants et qui souhaitent s’engager en soutenant des projets ayant un impact sur la communauté ;

• Conception créative et graphique
• Développement de sites web
• IA et création de contenu numérique.
• Conception et développement de matériel.

Âge

• 17-22
• 23-28
• 29-40

Localisation

Être situé dans l’une des régions suivantes. 

• Région Nord-Ouest
• Région Sud-Ouest
• Région Extrême-Nord
• Région Centre

La bourse implique un engagement physique partiel dans l’un de nos centres sélectionnés situés à Bamenda, Buea, Maroua et Yaoundé. 

Conditions

• Être disponible tout au long de la formation
• Comprendre l’anglais et le français 
• Posséder un smartphone et un ordinateur portable en état de marche
• Avoir des connaissances en informatique

Postulez ici

Les candidats sélectionnés seront informés par courriel de leur sélection pour le programme avant le 10 juin 2024.

A propos de #defyhatenow Cameroun

defyhatenow est une initiative qui vise à fournir des solutions communautaires, basées sur des données, au problème des discours de haine, de la désinformation et des fake news. Notre travail se concentre sur la création d’un cadre permettant d’instaurer la confiance entre les parties prenantes en mobilisant l’action civique contre toutes les formes de discours de haine et d’incitation à la violence. #defyhatenow cherche à aider les voix contre les conflits induits en ligne à devenir « virales » à l’intérieur et au-delà des régions touchées en engageant les jeunes, les dirigeants communautaires, les organisations de base et d’autres acteurs de la société civile dans un cadre de paix dans les médias et l’information. Combler le fossé entre ceux qui ont accès à la technologie et ceux qui n’y ont pas accès en ce qui concerne la connaissance et la sensibilisation aux mécanismes des médias sociaux. Enfin, #defyhatenow est un réseau croissant de gardiens de la paix en ligne et hors ligne.

Background

The #defyhatenow initiative works at mobilizing civic action and digital action to counter hate speech and violent extremism online and offline. In an effort to provide data-based solutions, the initiative uses the #Tech4Peace programs as a problem-solving tool in conflict-hit zones.

Technical peace-building involves the application of technical expertise and knowledge to support peace-building efforts in conflict-affected areas. Using technology to bring peace to a community involves leveraging innovative tools and approaches to address  issues, foster dialogue, and promote social cohesion.

#defyhatenow believes that training students in using technology to build peace is a great way of bringing communities together since the internet has made the world a global village. As technical peacebuilders, fellows will be introduced and taught how to change narratives in a community through communication and information sharing, digital storytelling, and online education and training. This will allow technical students and professionals to support community action programs in conflict zones and enhance their involvement efforts.

Objective of the fellowship

The #Tech4Peace fellowship aims to build a network of technical peace builders by enabling recently graduated university students and young technical experts to engage with #defyhatenow communities through technical community outreach opportunities in design, tech development, AI and digital content creation, and hardware. 

Methodology

The program is based on a blended learning model using webinars, practical lessons, peer-to-peer learning, and on-the-ground practical work in select hubs and with assigned community organizations.

Fellows will participate in four months of hands-on engagement, beginning with one month of digital peacebuilding, opposing disinformation, and combating hate speech.

Then spend another month of peer learning to improve technical skills.

After that, they will be assigned to matched community organizations for two months, where they will not only give their hard talents to the organization but will also learn about community engagement from the host.

During the two learning months, fellows will have access to the Hubs, where they will engage with peers, use hardware toolkits, and participate in online learning courses.

Timelines

June, July, August & September 2024

Who can apply?

Recent graduates and professionals  who poses skills in either of the following areas and would like to engage by supporting community impact projects:

• Creative & Graphics Design
• Website development
• AI & digital content creation.
• Hardware design and development.

Age

• 17-22
• 23-28
• 29-40

Location

Be located in or able to access either of the following regions:

• North-West region
• South-West region
• Extreme North region
• Centre region

The fellowship will involve partly physical engagement in either of our select hubs located in; Bamenda, Buea, Maroua, or Yaounde. 

Conditions

• Be available throughout the training
• Understand English and French
• Own a working smartphone and laptop
• Be computer literate.

Apply here

 Selected applicants will be notified by email of their selection for the program by June 10th, 2024

About #defyhatenow Cameroon

#defyhatenow is an initiative that aims to provide community-based, data-driven solutions to the problem of hate speech, misinformation and fake news. Our work focuses on creating a framework for building trust among stakeholders by mobilising civic action against all forms of hate speech and incitement to violence. #defyhatenow seeks to help voices against online-induced conflict go ‘viral’ within and beyond affected regions by engaging youth, community leaders, grassroots organisations and other civil society actors in a framework of peace in media and information. Bridging the gaps in knowledge and awareness of social media mechanisms between those who have access to technology and those who do not. Finally, #defyhatenow is a growing network of online and offline peacekeepers.

There has been a rise in inter-community and inter-religious conflicts both on social media and in communities, this needs to be addressed to obtain lasting solutions. Our aim is to bring young people together and give them access to skills, knowledge and open tech that will address the challenges their communities face and transform patterns that fuel conflict and inequality. It will reduce the high level of hate and violence within communities. 

This activity aims at bringing these young people together and skilling them on how to tackle the root causes and drivers of hate speech through the use of technology; it also aims at enabling #defyhatenow to respond effectively to the impact of hate speech on societies. In line with the objectives of #defyhatenow which seeks to combat online and offline hate speech and incitement to violence, marginalisation and discrimination by prioritising early warning and early action, and building on preventive approaches to community peace-building for social cohesion. 

The #ASKcamp – Access to Skills and Knowledge bootcamp is out to develop networks that sustainably connect people and address the challenges that their communities deal with in the face of conflict and instability. The #ASKotec – Access to Skills and Knowledge open tech emergency kit is designed to function as a set of tools to teach youth and adults in Cameroon how to use open technology to innovate, learn and repair items, also providing access to vital media literacy and knowledge skills. r0g_agency for open culture and Critical Transformation has developed two #ASKotec kits for use in local conflict-prone areas to give young Cameroonians useful skills to contribute to the development of their communities. 

That is why on the 9th of April 2023, a training session was conducted for members of the Google Developers Group in the University of Bamenda. The objective of the training was to provide the students with an introduction to open hardware and hands-on practice with the ASKotec Kit and offline information access mini-servers. Through the training, the students were expected to gain practical knowledge in developing simple circuits, understand basic electronics and microcontrollers, and learn the principles of open-source software and hardware.

The Cyber Holidays Boot Camp was another activity organised in Buea from August 17th to 19th 2023; a three-day program that was held in Buea, designed to promote cybersecurity awareness and digital innovation among youths in Cameroon. The program was held in response to the growing threat of cybercrime in Cameroon. The Cyber Holidays Boot Camp was seen as an opportunity to educate young people about the dangers of cybercrime and to equip them with the skills they need to protect themselves online. The program was also designed to promote digital innovation. Cameroon has a young and tech-savvy population, and the Cyber Holidays Boot Camp was seen as an opportunity to harness this potential and to create a generation of young people who can use technology to solve problems and make a positive impact in the world.

The ASKcamp is an activity happening in Bamenda from November 21 to 23, 2023. This activity has as its objective to bring together more than 50 youth from within the North West region, from different communities and backgrounds in a space to tackle tech-oriented solutions in response to the crisis. The bootcamp aims to empower individuals to address the challenges their communities face and transform patterns that fuel conflict and inequality, by providing youth access to skills and knowledge,  training of trainers, workshops, open source hardware and software that promotes entrepreneurship, gender equality, trauma and healing, financial sustainability and a possibility of sensitising them on the importance of using technology in building peace in communities. 

At #defyhatenow we believe that technology helps create predictive models, which can better understand how an emergency or disaster will impact the area. Understanding and viewing the prediction makes it easier to create an effective plan of action that addresses the concerns that the predictive model brings to light. We work with technology to help manage emergencies and disaster situations to help lead to more effective advances and innovations in conflict-prone areas. We aim to facilitate emergency response agencies to resolve threats in a timely and comprehensive manner.

La plupart d’entre nous se sont engagés dans la course à l’intelligence artificielle et la crainte d’être à la traîne est réelle. Si tout le monde semble s’accorder sur le fait que nous devons tous prendre le train de l’IA pour être à la pointe de la technologie, personne ne semble savoir où va ce train. Mais n’oublions-nous pas de nous poser les questions cruciales : quel type d’IA voulons-nous vraiment pour notre société? Existe-t-il des domaines sociaux où la décision est trop importante ou trop sensible pour être confiée à une machine ? Après tout, il se pourrait qu’il n’y ait pas une seule course à l’IA, mais plusieurs, allant dans des directions opposées. C’est pourquoi l’un des principaux problèmes est l’incapacité générale à comprendre l’effet réel de la désinformation à l’ère de l’IA. Toute initiative ou tout effort visant à lutter contre la désinformation devrait être fondé sur des solutions politiques factuelles, utilisant des données empiriques claires sur les dommages réels qui sont d’une ampleur qui mérite une intervention.

 En marge d’une Masterclass pour les journalistes et les OSC au Cameroun, #defyhatenow a engagé une conversation sur l’impact de l’IA sur le processus de production et de distribution de l’information à l’ère numérique. Deux formateurs principaux d’Africa Check Sénégal, Valdez Onanina et Azil Momar, ont apporté un éclairage supplémentaire lors d’une discussion avec nos boursiers d’Africa Factchecking Fellowship – #AFFCameroon basés à Yaoundé. 

La session a été modérée par Donald Tchiengue, coordinateur des projets numériques, qui a lancé des discussions sur la façon de trouver des articles de fact-checking sur le changement climatique, d’obtenir les bonnes informations et de comprendre les opportunités et les menaces de l’IA.

La vérification des faits repose sur des informations factuelles, et il faut toujours s’assurer que chaque élément d’information est vrai. Mener une enquête, qui prendra plus de temps, est généralement la meilleure option. L’accent a été mis sur quelques aspects, notamment sur les raisons pour lesquelles certaines informations sont vérifiables et d’autres non, ainsi que sur la mesure dans laquelle il convient de vérifier une information, après quoi des recommandations ont également été formulées sur la manière de vivre avec l’avènement de l’intelligence artificielle, comme le montrent les points mis en évidence : l’IA est-elle une opportunité ou une menace ? L’IA peut représenter un danger selon la personne qui l’utilise, tout dépend de ce que nous recherchons, l’IA peut fournir des conseils sur les informations que nous recherchons, l’IA peut nous aider à vérifier le contenu sur les réseaux sociaux. Quels sont les sujets qu’il est important de fact-checker et ceux qui ne le sont pas ? Critères pour les informations à vérifier : Intérêt public, viralité, demande du public, est-il vérifiable ? La tendance sur le sujet. Quelles sont les limites de l’intelligence artificielle ? Chat GPT n’apporte pas toujours des informations vraies et exactes, l’IA ne remplacera jamais la mémoire humaine.

#defyhatenow à l’ère de l’IA : le mélange de l’intelligence artificielle et de la désinformation/du discours de haine 

L’utilisation de l’IA pour réguler les discours de haine a un impact direct sur la liberté d’expression, ce qui soulève des préoccupations concernant l’État de droit et, en particulier, les notions de légalité, de légitimité et de proportionnalité. Le recours à l’IA, même sans supervision humaine, est une nécessité lorsqu’il s’agit de contenus qui ne pourraient jamais être justifiés d’un point de vue éthique ou juridique, comme la maltraitance des enfants. Toutefois, la question se complique lorsqu’il s’agit de domaines d’expression contestés, tels que les discours haineux, pour lesquels il n’existe pas de position éthique et juridique universelle quant à leur nature et au moment (le cas échéant) où ils doivent être supprimés.

Bien que des technologies telles que le traitement du langage naturel et l’analyse des sentiments aient été mises au point pour détecter les textes préjudiciables sans devoir s’appuyer sur des mots ou des phrases spécifiques, la recherche a montré qu’elles sont encore loin de pouvoir saisir le contexte ou de détecter l’intention ou la motivation de l’orateur. Cela reflète l’importance de la contextualisation du discours, un aspect qui ne correspond pas bien à la conception et à l’application des mécanismes automatisés et qui pourrait présenter des risques pour la participation en ligne des groupes minoritaires. En outre, les mécanismes automatisés sont fondamentalement incapables de comprendre les nuances et le contexte du langage et de la communication humaine.

La règle selon laquelle l’IA doit toujours rester sous le contrôle de l’homme et les États doivent offrir un accès effectif à des voies de recours aux victimes de violations des droits de l’homme découlant du fonctionnement de l’IA. Elle fait également référence à la promotion de la connaissance de l’IA. En ce qui concerne ce dernier point, il est possible d’offrir une formation aux droits de l’homme et de renforcer les capacités des personnes directement ou indirectement impliquées dans l’application des systèmes d’IA.

Quelques organisations de la société civile camerounaise œuvrant pour la promotion d’un internet sain et des espaces de libertés publiques, réunies à Yaoundé le 09 juin 2023, ont fait les constats suivants : L’intelligence artificielle (IA) est une technologie de pointe qui se développe rapidement et qui a le potentiel de révolutionner positivement de nombreux aspects de notre vie. Cependant, le développement de l’IA soulève également un certain nombre de questions éthiques et existentielles qui doivent être abordées de toute urgence dans le monde, mais aussi au Cameroun. Pour en savoir plus sur la déclaration faite lors de cette réunion, lire ici 

Il est impératif de s’adapter et d’accepter que l’IA devient une nouvelle normalité dans notre société et qu’elle finisse par être de plus en plus présente dans nos vies quotidiennes, faire en sorte que cela devienne un instinct constant pour tout le monde d’être toujours observateur, de penser de manière critique et de poser les bonnes questions est la meilleure chose pour au moins un niveau minimum de sûreté et de sécurité, apprendre et mettre à jour les dernières tendances sur l’IA, comprendre comment elle fonctionne afin d’être en mesure de relever facilement les défis. #defyhatenow organisera, par le biais d’une session de formation, une session de formation pour les dirigeants des médias traditionnels afin d’expliquer ces concepts. Le développement d’activités au sein des organisations de personnes touchées ou confrontées au discours de haine et à la désinformation permettra à davantage d’activistes de lutter contre ce fléau. Le fact-checking joue un rôle crucial dans la vérification des faits et la validation des résultats produits par les algorithmes de l’IA. En promouvant une culture de la vérification des faits, nous pouvons renforcer la confiance et la crédibilité de cette technologie.

Elizabeth Lodou | Courtesy Photo

Elizabeth Lodou, an accomplished broadcast journalist and Reporter at The Radio Community, embarked on a transformative journey as she joined our team as a trainee. Recognising the vital role she would play in combatting disinformation through media reporting, we were responsible for equipping her with the necessary skills to become an influential force in the fight against false information.

“I made sure I dedicated my time and energy to learning during the training to learn more because I can now tell the difference between misinformation,” Elizabeth Lodou, a broadcast journalist and a Reporter at Singaita FM 88.3.

This initiative holds immense promise, as its impact extends far beyond the confines of Kapoeta North. By empowering Elizabeth with the tools to counter the spread of disinformation, we are actively contributing to the nationwide effort to safeguard the truth. Misinformation and disinformation manifest in various forms, from fabricated news articles and manipulated visuals to sensationalised headlines and viral rumours. The craftiness employed by disseminators of false information has reached new heights, underscoring the urgency for us to possess the knowledge and aptitude to discern fact from fiction.

Through comprehensive training, Elizabeth has developed a profound understanding of the multifaceted nature of mis/disinformation. She now comprehends that any piece of information, whether received from the public or sourced from social media, necessitates rigorous verification before it can be shared with her listeners and the community at large. Scrutinising the source, contextualising claims, and corroborating facts with relevant authorities have become integral steps in her pursuit of disseminating accurate and well-founded information.

As Elizabeth emerges from this training, she can separate truth from falsehood and is responsible for delivering trustworthy information to her audience. Armed with a profound grasp of media literacy and fact-checking techniques, she is poised to serve as a reliable source of verified news, effectively countering the detrimental effects of disinformation.

The accomplishments of Elizabeth’s journey will resonate throughout the nation, reinforcing our collective commitment to upholding the principles of transparency, accuracy, and integrity in media reporting. By enabling her to champion the cause of truth, we are sowing the seeds of a more informed and resilient society.

More skills are needed to identify misinformation, and tools to verify it before publishing or reporting are becoming increasingly important for journalists and other media makers in South Sudan, like in many other countries. The spread of misinformation through social media platforms has grown exponentially, leading to potential harm, social unrest, and damage to public trust. In a context where reliable information is crucial for fostering peace, stability, and informed decision-making, media professionals face the challenge of navigating a digital landscape flooded with rumours, false narratives, and misleading content. Therefore, acquiring and honing skills to detect and verify misinformation and utilising appropriate fact-checking tools and techniques is crucial for ensuring accurate and responsible journalism in South Sudan. It empowers media practitioners to deliver reliable, trustworthy information to the public, contributing to an informed citizenry and a healthier media ecosystem.

Defyhatenow is working with IREX in implementing the Sustainable Independent Media Activity (SIMA) to improve access to credible, accurate, and reliable information for South Sudanese citizens by promoting the sustainability of high-quality, independent and factual reporting. SIMA is grounded in the understanding that a vibrant, resilient, and self-reliant media sector is a core building block for greater inclusive social cohesion, accountability, enhanced democratic governance, conflict resolution, and more pluralistic societies. In designing an approach to bolster independent media amidst various obstacles, IREX and Defyhatenow launched a three-month journalists’ mentorship program targeting forty (40) content creators in South Sudan to equip them with skills and knowledge to combat disinformation, explicitly focusing on fact-checking and verification techniques.

In Cameroon, the verification of online information is becoming increasingly crucial. This growth is due to the need to mitigate the increase in fake news online, a subject that is not well covered by the mainstream media. To date, fake news and hate speech online and even in the traditional media, take the form of news related to the contexts where the content creators operate. Despite the efforts of the actors, the phenomenon is taking on worrying proportions, with tribalist attacks and offline abuses as a backdrop.

#defyhatenow Cameroon has for the past three years, run the “Africa Fact-checking Fellowship” #AFFCameroon program, which aims to equip professionals with fact-checking skills to recognise misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation online. To date, eight cohorts of approximately 146 professionals from the Centre, Littoral, South-West, North-West, Adamawa, North, Far-North, and West Regions of Cameroon have directly benefited from the Fellowship. The objective is to establish a critical mass of fact-checkers, right information advocates, online and offline hate speech, and digital rights defenders.

The Africa Fact-checking Fellowship – #AFFCameroon is designed to track and map viral trends on social media related to current challenges of ‘fake news’ in Cameroon. Through its different cohorts, #AFFCameroon aims to enhance the skills of experienced professionals to effectively contribute to peace building and social cohesion through combating disinformation and hate speech. It also aims to select future trainers through its various cohorts, thereby putting seasoned professionals in the field equipped with the necessary skills. With a hybrid learning model that uses webinars, practical lessons, peer-to-peer learning and fieldwork, fellows will have access to a rich set of online tools and resources as well as a network of experts and professionals from around the world to guide and mentor them throughout this training period.

Meet Cohort 8 Fellows of Africa Fact-checking Fellowship – #AFFCameroon

The Cohort 8 Fellows started their factchecking journey from June 15 – 17, 2023, with an onsite training grouping 31 fellows to run for a period of three months; that is, June – July – August 2023, during which they will be called upon to immerse themselves in methods and techniques in fact-checking, online data collection and analysis, community engagement and awareness-raising against disinformation and hate speech. The fellows’ work will be monitored and published on our dedicated platform www.237check.org.

Discover HERE the faces and biographies of our newly selected #AFFCameroon Cohort 8 Fellows. Selected from over 350 profiles in response to our online call for applications, these new fellows are media professionals, bloggers, content creators, influencers and association leaders who have been demonstrating their commitment online and offline for peace, social cohesion and development in Cameroon and Africa with distinct skills sets in varying fields. Selected from different parts of Cameroon based on the knowledge of daily socio-political and economic realities, particularly in conflict-hit regions. They will be trained by renonwed experts in methods and techniques for fact-checking, combating online hate speech and cybersecurity.

Creating FactChecking Soldiers: A Continuous Exercise for PeaceBuilding

Fact-checking has become increasingly important due to the speed with which both information and misinformation can spread in the modern media ecosystem. Researchers have been exploring how fact-checking can be automated, using techniques based on natural language processing, machine learning, knowledge representation, and databases to automatically predict the veracity of claims for a responsible online space.

During this period, fellows will equally have the opportunity to be followed up and mentored by Alumni Fellows who have distinguished themselves in the program. This will allow them to have hands-on experience in producing researched Social Media Health Reports – SMHR and fact checking articles. During these three months, they have also been mandated to lead public discourse by changing perspectives in their respective communities and work spaces by educating the masses on the dangers of hatespeech; ways to counter the proliferation of misinformation and disinformation through basic verification tools.

#defyhatenow #AFFCamerooon #ThinkB4UClick #SafeDigitalSpaces #HateFreeCameroon

Africa Check in collaboration with #defyhatenow is hosting a two-day fact-checking and verification masterclass in Cameroon for journalists from 9am to 4pm on 22 -23 June 2023. To register for the workshop, complete the form by Thursday 26 April 2023. PLEASE NOTE: Spaces are limited so don’t apply if you won’t be available to attend the two-day session in full.  Venue to be confirmed closer to the time.  Accommodation and local travel will be provided      

The training will cover the types of false information (dis- and misinformation); how and why false information spreads; using online tools to verify information, images and videos; finding accurate data from credible sources; and how to apply fact-checking methodology in your daily reporting. 

Africa Check en collaboration avec #defyhatenow organise un masterclass de deux jours sur le fact-checking et la vérification des faits au Cameroun à l’intention les journalistes, de 9h à 16h, les 22 et 23 juin 2023. Pour participer à l’atelier de travail, bien vouloir remplir ce formulaire avant jeudi 26 avril 2023. NOTEZ-BIEN : Les places sont limitées, bien vouloir ne pas vous inscrire si vous êtes dans l’incapacité d’assister à l’intégralité de la session de deux jours.  Le lieu de l’atelier vous sera confirmé à une date ultérieure. L’hébergement et les déplacements locaux seront pris en charge.

La formation abordera les point suivants : Types de fausses informations (désinformation et mésinformation) ; Causes et moyens de propagation des fausses informations; Utilisation d’outils en ligne pour vérifier les informations, les images et les vidéos ; la recherche de données exactes auprès de sources crédibles ; différentes applications de la méthodologie de vérification des faits dans vos reportages au quotidien

Africa Check in collaboration with #defyhatenow is hosting a two-day fact-checking masterclass in Cameroon for civil society organisations that work in the fact- checking, media literacy and media education space. 

Training will start from 9am to 4pm on the 25 – 26 July 2023. To register for the workshop, complete the form by 26 April 2023. PLEASE NOTE: Spaces are limited so don’t apply if you won’t be available to attend the two-day session in full.  Venue to be confirmed closer to the time. Accommodation and local travel will be provided.

The training will cover how and why false information spreads, the types of false information (dis- and misinformation), tips for spotting false information, and online tools for verifying images and video