Penplusbytes Launches Ghana Anti-Disinformation Coalition Project to Tackle Language-Driven Disinformation with AI
Penplusbytes has launched the Ghana Anti-Disinformation Coalition Project, a three-year national initiative designed to combat disinformation across Ghana through language-aware research, AI-enabled fact-checking, and strengthened media and civic ecosystems. The project is implemented by Penplusbytes.
1Project Overview
By enhancing evidence-based policies and interventions rooted in language dynamics, and strengthening national resilience through scalable, inclusive AI-enabled fact-checking, the project aims to improve community-level information accuracy. Over its three-year life span, it is expected to significantly reduce citizens’ exposure to disinformation and foster democratic stability and social cohesion across Ghana, with a particular focus on underserved rural areas.
2Research & Evidence Building
The project will strengthen research capacity and generate strong evidence on how disinformation spreads across Ghana, with a particular focus on language. It will conduct nationwide research in all 16 regions to understand how disinformation circulates in major Ghanaian languages compared with English, while developing and testing practical mitigation strategies, including the use of AI. A robust Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning framework will be established, beginning with a project baseline to track progress and measure impact. Alongside this, the project will implement communications and outreach activities — such as awareness campaigns and media engagement — to share findings and practical insights with policymakers, the media, and civil society.
3Multilingual AI Fact-Checking Ecosystem
To support this effort, the project will build a resilient, multilingual AI-driven fact-checking ecosystem. This will include the development of a digital fact-checking marketplace platform that connects fact-checkers and journalists, alongside an online space to showcase verified content and highlight emerging disinformation trends in real time. The platform will provide a simple and accessible way for the public, media, and partners to submit claims for verification, while AI models trained in local languages will help predict, detect, and flag disinformation more effectively. By making verified information easier to access, reuse, and amplify across radio, television, print, online media, and social platforms, the ecosystem will significantly strengthen the reach and impact of fact-checking efforts.
4Empowering Youth & Community Media
Recognising the critical role of youth and local media in shaping public narratives, the project will also equip young people and community radio stations with the skills and tools needed to verify information. This will include training and capacity-building programmes for media professionals and journalists to strengthen verification and fact-checking skills, as well as a one-day seminar on media and digital literacy to help young people critically assess online content and resist manipulation. The project will further support coalition engagement through periodic meetings, knowledge exchanges, study visits, and technology-focused sessions, fostering collaboration and collective action against disinformation across Ghana. By empowering youth and community radios, the initiative will help ensure that accurate, verified information reaches citizens wherever they are, especially in rural and hard-to-reach communities.