Thraets Secures Grant to Protect African Elections from AI-Generated Mis/Disinformation

thraets-project-launch

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 AI-Generated Mis/Disinformation to Preserve Democracy.”

With numerous African countries, including Tunisia and Ghana, preparing for elections in 2024’s “Year of Democracy,” our project is timely and critical. It aims to counter the increasing threats posed by AI-generated disinformation campaigns that could jeopardize free and fair elections.

Our research will focus on the upcoming electoral processes in Tunisia (presidential, local and municipal elections in November 2024) and Ghana (presidential and parliamentary elections in December 2024). These countries were selected for their regional significance and the crucial role of supporting democracy in West and North Africa.

Through this initiative, we aim to:

  1. Develop an open-source AI tracking and knowledge hub to crowdsource and monitor AI-generated content related to the elections.
  2. Conduct red teaming activities to refine investigative methodologies and enhance AI detection tools/tutorials for identifying synthetic and manipulated media.
  3. Train journalists and civil society organizations to detect and counter AI-generated disinformation tactics.
  4. Advocate for platform accountability and robust content moderation policies.

In an era of advanced AI capabilities that can mislead and divide, defending the integrity of the democratic process is crucial.

By leveraging technology, building capacity, and fostering multi-stakeholder cooperation, we aim to uphold citizens’ rights to freely express themselves, access accurate information, and participate in shaping their nations’ futures.

We look forward to sharing more updates as we progress. Stay tuned!