BBYDI launches whatsapp chatbot to fight misinformation
The Brain Builders Youth Development Initiative( BBYDI) has further strengthened its fight against the surge of misinformation by launching of MyAIFact Checker, a whatsApp chatboot under the auspices of its Factcheck Africa platform.
The Al-powered tool, developed by BBYDI helps and allows users to verify claims in English, Yoruba, Hausa, and Igbo without leaving the app where false information circulates.
he whatsApp chatbot tool joins the long list of innovations curated by the BBYDI to stem the growth of fake news and misinformation.
In April 2024, FactCheckAfrica unveiled Africa’s first artificial intelligence, AI-powered fact-checking platform, named ‘MyAIFactChecker’ to counter the spread of misinformation and disinformation on the continent.
Speaking to journalists at the launch of the WhatsApp chatbot on Friday in Ilorin,
Sanni Alausa Issa, Communications Director at BBYDI said the need to conceptualise the chatboot “represents a strategic pivot for Brain Builders, which previously operated a web-based fact-checking platform”
Sanni noted that a research conducted about the web-based approach launched in 2024 revealed a fundamental problem around access by broad based, hence the need for another strategic focus on WhatsApp users.
For the web-based, he said “User research revealed a fundamental problem: the communities most vulnerable to misinformation were least able to access the solution. Internet connectivity was unreliable, data costs were prohibitive, and many users lacked devices capable of browsing websites smoothly”.
WhatsApp, he said by contrast, reaches over 500 million people across Africa daily,consumes minimal data and runs on basic smartphones-thus the new tools is designed to meet the users where they are.
“If misinformation spreads through WhatsApp, then verification must live there too, Issa said.
He further said “The new tool supports voice-to-text functionality, allowing users to speak their questions rather than type them-a feature that proved valuable during testing for users with lower literacy levels and persons with disabilities. It operates in English, Yoruba, Hausa, and Igbo, enabling users to verify information in the language they think in”
Tested during elections
Brain Builders stated that it developed the chatbot through iterative testing beginning in September 2025. According to the group, an Initial trials with thirty testers achieved 85 percent accuracy.
“A subsequent pilot with fifty participants in llorin-spanning different ages, genders, and literacy levels-pushed accuracy to 90 percent, with response times of four to six seconds” it added.
While measuring the effectiveness of the innovation, the group said “the tool faced its most significant test during the 2025 Anambra gubernatorial elections and Cameroon’s election cycle, operating while misinformation circulated actively around political events.
It futher said “Community engagement sessions in Anambra produced measurable shifts in behaviour. Before the training, only 14 percent of participants felt very confident identifying false information, and fewer than one-third ever verified claims before sharing them. Afterward, 72 percent reported feeling very confident spotting misinformation, and 78 percent said they would now verify claims before passing them on.
Calistus Ojobor, a participant from the Anambra sessions, said he previously believed everything he heard from relatives and friends without question. After the engagement, he feels confident correcting misleading messages among his peers.
Brain Builders said it designed the tool with attention to how misinformation affects different communities, emphasising that “technology is only inclusive if inclusion is intentional”.
For example, it noted an increase in gendered disinformation, including harmful narratives targeting women in politics and civic spaces-circulates daily across Nigerian social media.
During community outreach in Anambra, the organisation deliberately engaged women’s groups and ensured accessible participation through visual aids like flashcards and placards.
According to BBYDI, MyAlFactChecker WhatsApp chatbot initiative received support from CIVICUS and the Digital Democracy Initiative through the Digital Action Lab.
The group said it aims to expand MyAlFact Checker across Nigeria and throughout the African continent wherever WhatsApp is used.
The organisation also calls on citizens to save the chatbot number and verify messages before sharing, on journalists to publicise the tool, and on funders and development partners to support scaling efforts.
“The truth does not defend itself, Issa said on Friday. “It needs champions. It needs tools. It needs you.”
MyAlFactChecker is available on WhatsApp via https://wa.me/+18434381502. Users can save the number and submit claims for verification in text or voice format.
