Troll Tracker is a collaborative effort by civic tech industry experts including Code for All, Code for Africa, DFRLab, iLab, PesaCheck and CivicSignal. The team is well positioned to create a tool that empowers investigative projects across Africa with years of experience across all organisations.

<a href="https:///codeforafrica.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Code for Africa (CfA)</a> is the continent’s largest network of civic technology and data journalism labs, with teams in 21 countries. CfA builds digital democracy solutions that give citizens unfettered access to actionable information that empowers them to make informed decisions, and that strengthens civic engagement for improved public governance and accountability. This includes building infrastructure like the continent’s largest open data portals at openAFRICA and sourceAFRICA. CfA incubates initiatives as diverse as the africanDRONE network, the PesaCheck fact-checking initiative, the sensors.AFRICA air quality sensor network and the research and analysis programme Civic Signal.

Code for Africa

<a href="https://codeforall.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Code for All</a> is a global network composed of 30+ civic tech organisations from around the world. Our mission is to connect civic tech organisations so they can learn from each other, leading to greater impact in their local communities. With the support of this international network, each of our member organisations have access to tool-kits, projects, and expertise from people doing similar work in different corners of the world. We believe in driving social change through digital technology, citizen participation and collaborative decision-making, while improving the relationship between governments and citizens.

Code for All

<a href="https://investigate.africa" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ANCIR’s iLAB</a> provides grantees, collaborators, partners and formalised members with round-the-clock investigative support services. This includes editorial, cross-examination, data, technology, forensics, financial and other services to assist in addressing and resolving investigative queries.

ANCIR’s iLAB

<a href="https://pesacheck.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">PesaCheck</a> is a pioneering verification initiative that is kickstarting fact-checking across Africa. Initially focused on verifying the financial and other statistical numbers quoted by public figures in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, PesaCheck is now Africa’s largest with full-time fact-checkers in 12 countries in both east and west Africa, as well as across the Sahel. PesaCheck fact-checks in two international languages (English and French), as well as major African languages such as Kiswahili and Amharic.

PesaCheck

<a href="https://civicsignal.africa" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CivicSignal</a> is the research and analysis programme of Code for Africa, the continent’s largest network of indigenous African civic technology and investigative data journalism laboratories. CivicSignal’s data analysis is powered by MIT’s Media Cloud platform, and research partners include the Reuters Institute for Journalism and the Global Disinformation Index.

CivicSignal

DRFLab

Anti-disinfo alliance

Analysing how toxic actors and trolls hide their manipulation

Collectively DFRLab, iLab, PesaCheck and CivicSignal publish many reports and investigations into disinformation campaigns. View some of them below.

How the Ethiopian diaspora community spearheaded the Hashtag Activism after the assassination...

Ethiopia’s Hactivism

How opposing online groups coordinated to amplify political narratives against each other on social media.

Kenya’s Keyboard Warriors

In the lead-up to the East African nation’s January 2021 elections, pro-government trolls wielded tweets as a weapon...

Uganda In Crisis

Operation KOT: User network uses coordinated amplification of anti-Ruto hashtags on Twitter, in a likely...

Online Political Trolls

Investigations