N-VA began as a passion to debunk the viral misinformation circulating on Nigeria’s internet space about COVID-19. A facebook page was created in May 2020, fact-checked reports were published on this medium and on the Twitter page launched in the same month. One of our most widely shared fact-check reports was a claim purportedly attributed to Nobel laureate winner, Dr. Dennis Mukwege.
In August 2020, N-VA’s two-man team launched the fact-check website and added two volunteer research assistants to the team. Our fact-check reports have covered misinformation on COVID-19, public policy, elections, falsified data, and we have fact-checked several prominent politicians and government agencies.
Africa’s media is rife with misinformation, not just news contents but distorted images and videos with the aim to mislead the public. Even data is manipulated to suit the narrative of government parastatals and individuals.
The trend of misinformation has widened public distrust in the media and government.
Government agencies and media handlers are known for sharing misleading images on projects executed by the administration, by the time this visual is fact-checked and discovered as obvious misinformation, it would have spread from online to offline spaces and peddled from one person to another. This is also true for media platforms sharing unverified news and images.
Yes, there are other fact-check platforms doing what we set out to do but the swift spread of misinformation requires there should be more platforms to keep up with the pace of false and misleading claims and helping to spread the right and verified information.
News Verifier Africa is a fact-checking organization committed to promoting truth and accuracy across the African continent. We combat misinformation by verifying claims, debunking falsehoods, and upholding journalistic integrity. Our mission is to foster transparency, accountability, and informed decision-making in media.
