As part of measures to fight fake news ahead of Nigeria’s election in February, a new website called CrossCheck Nigeria has been launched.
It will allow journalists from newsrooms around the country to work together to investigate and debunk rumours, particularly those circulating on social media. The public will be able to provide tips, post pictures, videos and other information via WhatsApp or the CrossCheck Nigeria website that they want verified. Completed investigations will appear on the site only when at least five partners have approved the work, says the AFP news agency, which is participating in the project.
About 46 journalists from 15 media organisations have attended a two-day “boot camp” in Lagos organised by the backers of the project First Draft News, a British non-profit group, and the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), Nigeria’s Tribune paper reports. Dayo Aiyetan, the executive director of ICIR which is overseeing the project, said that Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp had become “avenues for politicians to spread misinformation, rumour, falsehood and fake news. “The media bears responsibility to verify information being churned out on social media to ensure that they are true.” BBC
