Every couple of years, the same false stories come back. A claim that an election was rigged before a single vote was cast. An old video of violence, stripped of its date and place, presented as breaking news.
For fact-checkers, this means repeatedly investigating claims they have already debunked, even as new false stories emerge. The work takes time, resources and access to reliable information, which aren’t easily available.
Fact-checkers are the people whose job is to track claims, test them against evidence and tell the public what is true. As of June 2025, there were about 450 fact-checking organisations in more than 100 countries, including several African ones. Fact-checkers work within fact-checking organisations and in newsrooms with fact-checking desks.
In Africa, millions of people now get their news on mobile phones, often in closed WhatsApp groups where false claims travel quietly and fast. And around elections, false claims about rigging and ethnically charged propaganda can raise tensions.
We are scholars interested in the growing impact of information disorders, such as misinformation and disinformation. Previous studies have examined how false information affects democracy and wider society. But less attention has been paid to the people working to combat it: fact-checkers. In a recent study, we set out to understand how fact-checkers in different African countries see their role and the challenges they face.
Our study covered Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria...
Every couple of years, the same false stories come back. A claim that an election was rigged before a single vote was cast. An old video of violence, stripped of its date and place, presented as b...