A multimedia bilingual journalist, Alhassan Bala, has launched a Hausa fact-checking platform called “Alkalanci” (The Arbiter).
Bala in a statement issued Sunday explained that the platform focuses primarily on fact-checking claims on health, politics, and many other topics in Hausa language.
He said it would also be fact-checking pictures and videos to enlighten the Hausa readers in Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana and beyond about misleading claims or false pictures and videos.
Bala stressed that the berth of the platform became imperative at a time when people use photoshop and Artificial Intelligence to create “deep fake” pictures and videos.
He said: “We look at the digital space and realize how misinformation and disinformation are gaining ground among Hausa digital platform users.
“There are also many myths and false claims on health matters that a number of people believe with utmost belief.
“This is why it is important for us to provide a platform that will enlighten the Hausa readers,” Bala said in a statement on Sunday.
“We at the ‘Alkalanci’ would be providing media literacy so that people will know how to protect themselves from getting trapped by misinformation, disinformation or false claims, pictures and videos.”
Bala is currently a stringer with Voice of America (VOA) Hausa and English services with over a decade of journalism experience.