Kenyan Developers Shine at Andela Hackathon to Fight Fake News

Andela, the global technology company that is building a network of technology leaders on the African continent, recently hosted the “Fighting Fake News” Hackathon. Supported by BBC News, the Andela Hackathon was one of many events being held as part of the broadcaster’s ‘Beyond Fake News’ series. The project aims at tackling the spread of disinformation.

After a 24-hour sprint involving 52 software developers, 16 teams presented their ideas to a panel of judges comprising Jackie Christie [BBC Head of Partnerships – Africa TV Co-Productions], Shikoh Gitau [Head of Products – Safaricom], Frank Tamre [Software Engineer, Instructor & Mentor] and James Smart [Journalist].

Three teams – Thibitisha (Kiswahili word meaning confirm), iCODEAI, and SeeTheLight – presented the strongest concepts according to the panel.

About the winning teams

Their winning prototypes utilized Artificial Intelligence (AI), image manipulation detection techniques, and crowd-sourcing to fact-check, verify and distinguish fake news from legitimate news on text, video, and photos.

Each of the teams – comprising 11 members combined – was invited to pitch their solutions at the BBC Beyond Fake News Conference held in Nairobi on November 12th. Most recently, the teams have also been offered a six-month mentorship opportunity with Safaricom at the firm’s Alpha Innovation Hub to receive mentorship.

“We began the Safaricom Alpha Innovation Hub to drive our purpose of transforming lives by exploring innovations and partnerships that create additional value for our customers. Our collaboration with Andela seeks to harness the power of technology for social good to empower people in making informed decisions,” said Joseph Ogutu, Chief Special Projects Officer, Safaricom.

Themed ‘Technology for the public good: countering fake news online, the Hackathon was held to showcase how technology can be used for the public good, to counter fake news online. It opened with a diverse panel of experts including Brice Nkengsa [Co-Founder & Director of Engineering, Andela], Joshua Mwaniki [Country Director, Andela Kenya], Jackie Christie, Pinky Ghelani [Speaker, Presenter & Moderator], and moderator Rehema Kahurananga [Communications Manager, Andela] who provided further context as to why curbing the consumption and spread of fake news is vital and requires a multi-pronged approach including technology.

“There are many forms of misinformation but we define fake news as the deliberate spread of false information for political or commercial gain,” said Christie. “Trust underlines everything that we do. When trust is undermined we’re in trouble as a society. We’re using media literacy to educate both the young and old in fighting fake news.”