ILORIN, Nigeria — Ann, a resident of Anambra State, trusted the messages her family and friends sent her on WhatsApp. Why would people she knew share anything false? She forwarded what she received, believing she was keeping her loved ones informed.
Then she tested her saved messages with a fact-checking tool. Claim after claim came back misleading. She had been spreading misinformation to the very people she wanted to protect.
Ann’s experience is common across Nigeria, where WhatsApp serves as a primary news source for millions. On Friday, Brain Builders Youth Development Initiative launched a tool designed to address this reality: MyAIFactChecker, a WhatsApp chatbot that allows users to verify information without leaving the platform where they encounter it.
“Misinformation exploits our best instincts,” said Sanni Alausa Issa, Communications Director of Brain Builders, at the launch event in Ilorin. “It takes our desire to protect and inform each other and turns it into a weapon.”
Meeting users where they are
The chatbot represents a strategic pivot for Brain Builders, which previously operated a web-based fact-checking platform. User research revealed a fundamental problem: the communities most vulnerable to misinformation were least able to access the solution. Internet connectivity was unreliable, data costs were prohibitive, and many users lacked devices capable of browsing websites smoothly.
WhatsApp, by contrast, reaches over 500 million people across Africa daily. It consumes minimal data and runs on basic smartphones.
The AI-powered tool, developed by Brain Builders Youth Development Initiative, lets users verify claims in English, Yoruba, Hausa, and Igbo without leaving the app where false information circulates
“If misinformation spreads through WhatsApp, then verification must live there too,” Issa said.
The tool supports voice-to-text functionality, allowing users to speak their questions rather than type them—a feature that proved valuable during testing for users with lower literacy levels and persons with disabilities. It operates in English, Yoruba, Hausa, and Igbo, enabling users to verify information in the language they think in.
Tested during elections
Brain Builders developed the chatbot through iterative testing beginning in September 2025. Initial trials with thirty testers achieved 85 percent accuracy. A subsequent pilot with fifty participants in Ilorin—spanning different ages, genders, and literacy levels—pushed accuracy to 90 percent, with response times of four to six seconds.
The tool faced its most significant test during the 2025 Anambra gubernatorial elections and Cameroon’s election cycle, operating while misinformation circulated actively around political events.
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Community engagement sessions in Anambra produced measurable shifts in behaviour. Before the training, only 14 percent of participants felt very confident identifying false information, and fewer than one-third ever verified claims before sharing them. Afterward, 72 percent reported feeling very confident spotting misinformation, and 78 percent said they would now verify claims before passing them on.
Calistus Ojobor, a participant from the Anambra sessions, said he previously believed everything he heard from relatives and friends without question. After the engagement, he feels confident correcting misleading messages among his peers.
Addressing gendered disinformation
Brain Builders designed the tool with attention to how misinformation affects different communities. Gendered disinformation—harmful narratives targeting women in politics and civic spaces—circulates daily across Nigerian social media. During community outreach in Anambra, the organisation deliberately engaged women’s groups and ensured accessible participation through visual aids like flashcards and placards.
“Technology is only inclusive if inclusion is intentional,” Issa said.
Scaling across the continent
The initiative received support from CIVICUS and the Digital Democracy Initiative through the Digital Action Lab. Brain Builders aims to expand MyAIFactChecker across Nigeria and throughout the African continent wherever WhatsApp is used.
The organisation is calling on citizens to save the chatbot number and verify messages before sharing, on journalists to publicise the tool, and on funders and development partners to support scaling efforts.
“The truth does not defend itself,” Issa said. “It needs champions. It needs tools. It needs you.”
MyAIFactChecker is available on WhatsApp via https://wa.me/+18434381502. Users can save the number and submit claims for verification in text or voice format.
