2027: Yiaga Africa urges INEC to tackle AI misinformation

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Yiaga Africa has urged INEC to build its personnel’s capacity to detect and counter artificial intelligence-generated misinformation ahead of the 2027 elec Read More:…

Yiaga Africa has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission to strengthen the capacity of its personnel to detect and counter artificial intelligence-generated misinformation ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The organisation’s Director of Programmes, Cynthia Mbamalu, said INEC needed to improve the digital literacy of staff managing its information technology departments and social media platforms to enable the commission to respond effectively to emerging threats.

Mbamalu spoke on Wednesday at a webinar organised by the PUNCH Media Foundation, titled ‘AI, Misinformation and Nigeria’s 2027 Elections: Safeguarding the Truth, Protecting the Vote.’

She said the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence required electoral officials to acquire the technical knowledge needed to identify manipulated content and deploy appropriate tools to counter it.

“We are working with an electoral commission that is existing in a space that is evolving fast. The artificial intelligence-based ecosystem is evolving really fast and so there is a need for internal capacity building, especially with respect to personnel managing the IT departments of the commission and even the social media platforms of the commission,” she said.

Mbamalu added that INEC needed to equip its personnel with the knowledge to use AI tools to detect and counter manipulated content.

“Digital literacy is key, not just digital literacy to understand, even how to leverage AI tools to counter. Like I said, they use AI to find AI sometimes, and so that level of information is needed,” she said.

She also urged the commission to improve its response to misleading information, citing the controversy surrounding images purportedly taken from the voters’ register.

According to her, some people circulated images that were not from the register amid concerns about fictitious information, making it necessary for INEC to provide timely clarification.

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