‘Ruto Lies’: A Digital Chronicle of Public Discontent
The Kenya Finance Bill 2024/25, presented to parliament on May 13, 2024, proposed various tax increases and new fees on essential items and services, including internet data, bread, cooking oil, sanitary napkins, baby diapers, digital devices, motor vehicle ownership, specialized hospitals, and imported goods. The bill quickly sparked widespread protests across Kenya, significantly amplified by […]
“You Can’t Fool Us”: Introducing ‘Spot the Fakes’ Quiz
Previously, identifying manipulated images was a relatively easy task since photoshopped pictures often contained obvious inconsistencies, mostly mismatched perspectives(a peasant photo with a supercar background), unnatural lighting, or awkward element combinations. However, the emergence of Generative Adversarial Networks(GANs), a form of artificial intelligence (AI) for manipulating images has birthed a new era of synthetic media […]
Synthetic Media in Rwanda’s 2024 Elections
We’ve all seen them—fake images that depict political leaders in a less-than-flattering light, deepfakes of political endorsements that never happened, or manipulated videos spreading inflammatory messages against important figures. The ease with which this content is created and spread emphasizes the significant impact AI-generated media can have on society, especially in politically charged environments. A […]
It Is becoming Impossible to do Internet Research
Thirty years ago, for a person on the African continent to connect with someone in, for example, Australia, they would have to send a letter that would take many weeks to be delivered. However, these days, connection is as simple as clicking a button. The internet has brought connectivity and made so much possible. It […]
Scammers Target African Journalists with Disinformation on Meta(Facebook/Instagram) Platforms
As journalists across the region continue to face unprecedented attacks on their press freedoms with widespread intimidation, harassment and detention for their work, a new threat looms. African journalists are increasingly becoming a subject of targeted disinformation with deep fakes of journalists’ images being used to spread fake stories and scam people. An investigation by […]
AI-Generated Misinformation and Disinformation Idea-thon
Help Solve a Major Societal Problem—Bring Your Ideas to Fight Misinformation and Disinformation AI-generated Misinformation and disinformation pose a significant threat to democracy. They are spread by local/foreign state actors, businesses and malign non-state actors bent on undermining and damaging free and liberty-loving republics. A new grassroots strategy is needed: bottom-up rather than top-down. That […]
Thraets Secures Grant to Protect African Elections from AI-Generated Mis/Disinformation
We are thrilled to announce that @Thraets, which was incubated under the Outbox Foundation has been awarded a grant by the Africa Digital Rights Fund (ADRF), managed by CIPESA (the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa). This grant will fund our project titled “Safeguarding African Elections – Mitigating the Risk of […]