iVerify, a tool to fact-check misleading information, help improve the electoral environment and boost wider voters’ participation during in the electioneering process will debut in Nigeria before the end of the year. The platform will assist news media and citizens to separate truth from fiction and confront fake news in a timely and factual manner.

A stakeholders’ meeting to brainstorm on its modalities and its take-off was convened Tuesday and Wednesday in Lagos. The platform which is developed and supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has already been introduced in some other countries including Kenya and Zambia. Participants were drawn from media regulatory agencies and professional journalism bodies. Those in attendance include, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Nigeria Press Council (NPC), Nigeria Guild of Editors, Nigeria Union of Journalists, National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Guild of Online Publishers (GOCOP).

A cross section of Partners

Described as the Digital Public Good platform, the iVerify system which will be hosted in Nigeria by the International Press Centre, will help to sanitise the media environment and boost integrity around elections in Nigeria by fact-checking false reports, misinformation, disinformation and hate speech all of which can be classified as harmful content.

Mr. Deryck Fritz, UNDP

Welcoming participants to the stakeholders meeting, Mr. Deryck Fritz, Chief Technical Adviser for Election from UNDP, said the meeting was to develop a uniquely Nigerian solution towards improving the transparency of the electoral process. He described the iVerify platform as useful for monitoring, fact-checking and for providing immediate response to misleading information.

Another cross section of Partners

Further setting the mood for a robust discussion on the importance of the iVerify platform, Mr. Lanre Arogundade, Executive Director of IPC wetted the appetite of participants with real examples of misleading reports recorded during the 2019 election. In a paper titled: Information Integrity: Lessons from Previous Elections, Mr. Arogundade highlighted the evils of misinformation, disinformation and fake news with data and evidence on how such could have created distortions to the electoral process.

According to him, a study by the IPC assessed the weaponisation of mis/disinformation by different actors during the 2023 electoral process and found that misinformation was perpetrated through various mainstream media platforms. This was common in situations where news platforms failed to check false claims, half-truths and sometimes outright lies by politicians, and political candidates either during press briefings, press statements or interviews.

The study shows that “False connection (39.7%) and misleading content (34.9%) were the most common types of mis/disinformation used during the electoral process. Most false claims were sourced via Twitter (22.2%) and facebook (17%). False information occurred most before the general elections (71.4%), followed by the post election period (14.3%) and very few during the election period (12.7%).

“False information occurred and was most shared in sophisticated multimedia format (85.7%), followed by strictly video (14.3%) and this suggests fake actors are becoming more sophisticated than fact-checkers. Politicians were the most common perpetrators of false information (at 63.5%), particularly male persons (76.2%)

A greater percentage of false information occurred in the period before the general elections (71.4%), followed by a little more after the election (14.3%) and very few during the election (12.7%). Findings show that politicians were the most common perpetrators of false information (at 63.5%), followed by Unknown sources (19%) and members of the public (11.1%). Findings also showed that Peter Obi was mostly at the centre of false information (41.3%) followed by Atiku Abubakar and Bola Ahmed Tinubu at 11.1% each. INEC’s share was 4.8%.

Findings also revealed that misinformation was perpetrated through various mainstream media platforms. This was common in situations where news platforms failed to check false claims, half-truths and sometimes outright lies by politicians, and political candidates either during press briefings, press statements or interviews. Many of these claims found their way into the public space through the media.

“The findings of this study show that false information was deployed during the 2023 electoral process by different actors, particularly the politicians and perpetrated through social media platforms particularly Facebook and twitter. Findings also suggest that fake actors are becoming more sophisticated than fact-checkers and multi-dimensional approaches would need to be deployed to counter the menace”.

He recommended a number of measures to sanitise the environment. Amongst which are that “journalists need further training to deploy advanced verification tools off and on election cycles; independent fact-checkers should be provided an independent platform to publish their fact-checks as notable news platforms with wider audience remain reluctant to publish fact-checks unfavourable to their paymasters.

“INEC needs to be more funded to establish fact-checking desks in various offices. There is a need for increased media literacy to educate members of the public to identify and verify suspicious claims.” According to Arogundade, it was to address some of the observed lapses that the IPC and UNDP now present the iverify platform and are inviting others to come on board as partners.

All the partners in attendance endorsed the iverify platform and agreed that it will help to transform the media landscape when introduced. They made useful suggestions especially on how to fact-check online real time so that spreaders of misleading news are checked almost spontaneously.

With implementation modalities put in place, the partners and all stakeholders agreed that the iVerify platform should take-off as quickly as possible. A tentative timetable shows that the customization of the iVerify platform in Nigeria will commence in July while its formal launch will take place in the month of September.