The initiative, known as the Ghana Anti-Disinformation Coalition Project, seeks to build a resilient and broad-based coalition to promote information integrity, strengthen democratic governance, and enhance public access to credible information. 

It is being implemented by Penplusbytes with funding from the Norwegian Embassy in Ghana. 

Speaking at a maiden meeting in Accra, on Tuesday, Mr Jerry Sam, Executive Director of Penplusbytes, said the project was developed from years of experience in technology and governance work, particularly in elections and information integrity. 

“So, this project… is born out of learnings from all the work that Penplusbytes has been doing over the years… especially our work around elections and upholding information integrity,” he said. 

He noted that over the years, efforts to combat misinformation in Ghana had largely been occasional, often intensifying only during election periods. 

That, he said, left gaps that allowed false information to thrive in the interim. 

“We realised that most of the work… is more episodic. Come elections, we all come up to do fact-checking… but what happens after elections?” he asked. 

Mr Sam said the formation of a Coalition aimed to bring together diverse actors, including government agencies, fact-checking organisations, researchers, media practitioners, and community influencers, to better understand the information landscape and coordinate responses. 

He said the initiative would focus on continuous engagement, knowledge sharing, and collaboration to stay ahead of disinformation actors whose strategies continue to evolve. 

“The idea is to have a coalition of like-minded institutions and individuals to scale up interventions that are already being done,” he explained. 

A key component of the project is the development of an AI-powered multilingual disinformation detection tool designed to identify, analyse and predict misinformation trends across both English and local languages. 

Mr. Sam observed that most fact-checking efforts in Ghana were currently conducted in English, excluding a significant portion of the population. 

The project, he said, therefore seeks to incorporate local languages into disinformation detection and response, while leveraging community radio stations and opinion leaders to disseminate verified information. 

He added that the Coalition would also undertake nationwide research, having already conducted baseline studies across all 16 regions to map disinformation trends, actors, and vulnerabilities. 

“The landscape is quite fluid… whilst we are developing strategies, the actors also find ways to generate more,” he said, adding that research would be conducted annually to keep pace with emerging trends. 

Again, the initiative will focus on capacity building for journalists, community radio personnel, youth, and traditional and religious leaders to enable them to identify and counter misinformation. 

Mr. Sam stressed the need to engage grassroots actors who often serve as trusted sources of information in their communities. 

“When the chiefs talk, everybody picks it up… so how do we rope them into the fight against disinformation?” he asked. 

He emphasised the importance of a coordinated national response, noting that limited collaboration among stakeholders had weakened previous efforts. 

“The landscape is huge. We cannot do it alone… we need to collaborate and share resources,” he said. 

Mr Sam expressed optimism that the Coalition would help create a unified national voice against misinformation and improve the overall quality of information available to the public. 

While commending government for introducing the misinformation,  disinformation and hate speech bill to tackle the canker, Mr Sam called for a broader engagement to ensure that key issues including the protection of freedom of expression and potential misuse of sanctions were addressed. 

“Our key issues had to do with the human rights aspect, protecting freedom of speech and expression,” he said.