Fact-checker delegation in Berlin

Lifaqane Nare from Zimbabwe and Valdez Onanina from Cameroon

The African Fact-Checkers delegation meeting fellow Fact-chechers in Berlin

KAS Media Africa Director, Christoph Plate

In discussions with government, European Union (EU) institutions and research labs on Artificial Intelligence, the five fact-checkers deliberated the particular challenges they face in their work.

The urban elites who use social media are the ones whose posts are difficult to flag, said Noko Makgato, Executive Director of Africa Check. Misinformation in Africa often happens offline, on radio, and therefore requires special responses.

The fact that institutions in government in Berlin and EU-bodies in Brussels are aware of the threat posed by misinformation but provide relatively few staff to counter it, left the participants wondering if wealthy Europe could not do far more to address the problem.