The goal of the Raising Youths Awareness is to equip Liberian youth to identify misinformation and disinformation during the upcoming October 2023 election in Liberia. The Liberia Information Environment Assessment done by the National Democratic Institute on disinformation found key issues that the project intends to address: 1) that information manipulation tactics like disinformation and misinformation are common in Liberia, 2) Disinformation and misinformation are especially a concern for the upcoming elections in October 2023 because disinformation can lead to polarization and election violence, 3) Disinformation and misinformation are capable of crashing democracy in Liberia during the election processes as a result of unverifiable information that is spread among the population. 4) That the lack of access to reliable information is even more significant in rural areas, and that Liberians receive information primarily through radio, especially in rural areas with lower literacy rates, but radio stations are generally seen as unreliable sources of information, 5) Facebook as the most popular social media platform and the most popular messaging service is Facebook Messenger; and untrained individuals report on news events in Liberia on social media and blogs, and also use Facebook Live to share information without fact-checking it first, thereby spreading misinformation among the population, and 6) There is also a lack of access to reliable information in the country that individuals can reference to determine if information is true or false. Trusted government institutions like the National Police and the National Elections Commission (NEC) have limited information on their website, and the national legislature does not have a website to provide credible information about the election. The project will raise awareness about election misinformation and disinformation among youths in four major cities in Liberia, namely: Monrovia, Ganta, Gbarnga and Kakata. The project will recruit and empower youths to be champions of fighting fake news, particularly during election season, by creating or verifying the accuracy of Wikipedia articles through wiki clubs. Youth will be trained to verify information about the October 2023 elections and post verified information about the election on Wikipedia. The project will have youths attending events in the organized events and they will be made to create Wikipedia accounts and make a small contribution ,add citations, add references source, improve Wikipedia contents by adding more reliable information and correct typo on the upcoming October 2023 election articles on Wikipedia.
| Raising Youth Awareness Project | |
|---|---|
| A WikiCred 2022 Grant Proposal | |
| Project Type | Research + Output |
| Author | (iLab Team) |
| Contact | info@ilabliberia.org/ albert@ilabliberia.org |
| Requested amount | 9,950.00 USD |
| Award amount | Unknown |
- What is your idea?
- Why is it important?
This project will equip youth in Monrovia, Ganta, Gbarnga and Kakata with the right information that will help them have a better understanding of the purpose of the election. Youth will be equipped with the knowledge of fact-checking election information and providing the general populace with verifiable information about the upcoming October 2023 elections.
- Link(s) to your resume or anything else (CV, GitHub, etc.) that may be relevant
www.ilabliberia.org
Freedom of Information, Elections Monitoring, Open Cities Monrovia, Productivity and Pollution Impact, Mapping Healthcare facilities for COVID-19,
- Is your project already in progress?
No
- How is this project relevant to credibility and Wikipedia?
Wikipedia is regarded as if not the largest, then one of the largest sources of information in the world. Wikipedia provides information that the population in the world including Liberia can use to make informed decisions. The project is relevant and its outcome will add credibility to information about the upcoming October 2023 elections. The project is relevant to Wikipedia because posts from the youths in the four cities will provide and contribute to existing information about the Liberia October 2023 election on Wikipedia.
- What is the ultimate impact of this project?
The ultimate impact of the project will be to enhance awareness to the youth and make them knowledgeable about the threat and harms of misinformation and disinformation during the October 2023 election. Election management bodies will have their website updated to provide credible information about the election.
- Can your project scale?
Yes, the project will take place in four cities notable as hotspot for political misinformation that may lead to political intolerance, but the project has the potential to benefit larger Liberia and the sub-region.
- Why are you the people to do it?
iLab Liberia non-profit organization that supports development actors, civil society organizations and local businesses through integrating tech to enhance their services; works closely with Governments on technology initiatives that promote access to information, peace and security, elections, Health emergencies, Open Governance, climate change, research, data collection, while developing platforms and systems for anti-corruption, Freedom of Information, Elections Monitoring, Open Cities Monrovia, Productivity and Pollution Impact, Mapping Healthcare facilities for COVID-19, accountability and the rule of law. Evident of iLab Liberia work puts the organization in a better position as the first local tech hub that is capable of doing the work.
- What is the impact of your idea on diversity and inclusiveness of the Wikimedia movement?
The project is a plan to bring youths of diverse cultures together to mitigate the threats and harms of misinformation and disinformation during the October 2023 election in Liberia. The project initiative promotes the Wikimedia Movement in a way that youths of different cultures can come together and rise up against societal ills in Liberia.
- What are the challenges associated with this project and how you will overcome them?
The project lacks resources and a lack of stakeholder willingness. In order to overcome these challenges, it is hoped that the grant amount requested will be adequate to support the project activities. Should there be additional needs, iLab will collaborate with sister projects and address the additional needs. iLab sees Stakeholder engagement and stakeholder support as a foundation for successful projects, hence, we will place more effort on stakeholder engagement and involvement.
- How will you spend your funds?
The amount requested will be spent on stakeholder engagement efforts (travels, meetings and communications); travels (in-town and out-of-town); support to election management bodies (upgrading websites, webmaster training) and awareness meetings and workshops.
Mobile Data 675
Workshops/meeting 4250
Support to election management bodies 1500
Stakeholder Identification 300
Travels & Staff Time 3225
- How long will your project take?
3 Months
- Have you worked on projects for previous grants before?
Yes, since 2011 for Donor, local and international organizations