Defending the truth

Irene Mwendwa is the executive director of the civil-society organisation Pollicy. In this interview, she outlines her vision of ethical tech and talks about her experiences in the fight against disinformation and for the empowerment of Africans.

In Africa, political rhetoric, dubious health claims and geopolitical interests fuel the spread of misinformation. Africa Check regularly exposes lies and works to (re)build media literacy to hold those in power accountable with facts.

In South and Southeast Asia, several governments use laws that are supposed to fight fake news to suppress critical voices. However, civil-society actors have successfully countered such attempts to undermine free speech.