The United Nations has unveiled an “automated” fact-checking service to counter so-called disinformation and hate speech on the internet in a project partnered with Big-Tech and Soros-funded organisations.
In response to what they brand as “online information pollution”, which they claim is a “global challenge”, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has launched its iVerify platform to counter alleged disinformation and hate speech online.
The global body’s “automated fact-checking tool”, was developed in partnership with the United Nations International Computing Centre (UNICC), Facebook and Google-funded fact checker Meedan, the Meta-owned CrowdTangle, and the Soros-funded International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN).
The U.N. Development Programme said that “misinformation, disinformation, and hate speech threaten peace and security, disproportionately affecting those who are already vulnerable.”
It described the iVerify programme as an “automated fact-checking tool that can be used to identify false information and prevent and mitigate its spread.” The system will be provided by the UN to “national actors”, who will be given assistance in identifying, monitoring, and responding to “threats to information integrity.”
“The support package includes digital tools, capacity building modules, partnership opportunities, and communication and outreach strategies amongst others,” the U.N. body said.
The automated fact-checking tool could have imminent impact on the world, with the platform being actively used in Sierra Leone ahead of the country’s general elections on June 24th.
The U.N. said that the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) and the Independent Radio Network (IRN) will use the tool “to strengthen national capacity to proactively identify and respond to misinformation, disinformation and hate speech.”
Through “leveraging the capabilities of artificial intelligence”, the automated system will flag “potentially false or harmful content” to be reviewed by a team of fact checkers, who will be funded in part by the governments of Canada, Ireland, Iceland and the European Union.
The project in Sierra Leone is also partnering with BBC Media Action, which the UN said will aid in research as well as producing social media content “aimed at fostering media literacy and heightening awareness of mis- and disinformation.” The system will see dedicated tip lines established on WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Twitter.
As previously reported, the BBC’s own disinformation unit, dubbed BBC Verify, has been alleged to be itself spreading disinformation. The BBC has yet to respond to the allegations.
The iVerify system, which was initially piloted in Zambia in 2021, is also set to be deployed ahead of the October elections in Liberia, with the support of the Irish and Swedish embassies in the country, as well as the California-based Internews.
The non-profit, which was founded by David Hoffman, who has previously identified as a Marxist, is funded heavily by the United States government as well as by the Open Society Foundations of George Soros. Susan Rice, Former National Security Advisor to President Barack Obama, previously served on the board of directors for Internews, according to Open Secrets.
The UN programme has already received some pushback, with Canadian Professor Jordan Peterson describing the automated fact-checking system as an “Orwellian nightmare unfolding in real time… courtesy of the globalist centralizers”.