FactsMatterNg

The ICFJ Knight Fellowship programme in Nigeria is building collaborations among journalists, fact checkers and social media influencers to combat misinformation about health and other critical issues in Nigeria. With more than 33 million monthly Facebook users and 25 million monthly Twitter users, Africa’s most populous country is known for a lively and free-wheeling social media climate replete with rumors and false information.

The project uses Nigerian celebrities, humor and eye-catching videos and graphics to attract attention on social media, often in the pidgin dialect spoken by millions of Nigerians.These techniques make the truth as compelling as fake news that can spread like wildfire on social media platforms.