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WikiCred/2022 CFP/Bot to detect Fake News on Wikimedia Projects

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Bot to detect Fake News on Wikimedia Projects
A WikiCred 2022 Grant Proposal
Project TypeTechnology
AuthorGbemisola Esho John Eromosele
(Zend2020, Aitokhuehi)
Contactgbemiadepojuesho@gmail.com
Requested amount$8500
Award amountUnknown
What is your idea?

We are creating a bot that will detect fake news in Wikimedia Projects, it will be integrated with the APIs.It will work with web crawlers and sniffers that will also connect to a frontend that will provide visualization of the output.


Why is it important?

It is important because disinformation is harmful and if left unchecked and nothing is done about it, it continues to spread and cause more damage. Fake news is harmful and has caused more harm than wars and natural disasters the origin of some wars is when become he said, she said, they said without facts. Just as the Movement Strategy goal is to make Wikipedia a knowledge infrastructure 2030 available to everyone, having credible news or contribution lays a major art of that


Link(s) to your resume or anything else (CV, GitHub, etc.) that may be relevant

-


Is your project already in progress?

The technology, framework, and architecture are already in progress.


How is this project relevant to credibility and Wikipedia?

It is important because it further expatiates Wikipedia's Community Platform against Disinformation by providing more knowledge and tools to achieve the fight against Disinformation


What is the ultimate impact of this project?

It automates fake news detection and assures the credibility of the news put out by Wikimedia projects and saves time from manual checks.


Can your project scale?

Yes, the project is scalable and repeatable because we have a framework that is in place and the architecture collaboration with CREDIBLE disinfo organizations who are going to be involved in the training.


Why are you the people to do it?

We are the people to do it because we are concerned about the spread of disinformation because we have experienced how fake news can wreck a society. I am trained in using Open Source tools(OSINT) to curb the spread of disinformation, misinformation, and malformation I would love to see the foundation and such infrastructure in place, Wikipedia is one of the most read websites in the world, it is also the most natural thing for it to be credible as well. Marrying this with my skills as a Software and Cloud Engineer is something I will really love to implement. John is an experienced civil technologist, currently a Data Protection Team lead at a University, a web developer with experience in creating Learning Management Systems, a certified CompTIA Professional, and a Data Analyst with experience in working at the largest civic tech organization in Africa.


What is the impact of your idea on diversity and inclusiveness of the Wikimedia movement?

Fake news and disinformation affect everyone and most of the time underserved communities are at the receiving end of it all due to misconceptions, myths, and information out there about them. It is to their advantage too and it has accessibility features as well.


What are the challenges associated with this project and how you will overcome them?

The challenges may be some code issues but that is normal to find a way of brainstorming to debug it.


How will you spend your funds?

The Funds will be spent as follows Implementation of the Bot eg architecture $4,000 Integration with the Existing system of $3,000 Administration UI $1500


How long will your project take?

The project will take 8-10weeks


Have you worked on projects for previous grants before?

Yes, I have just one involving integrating people with disabilities to edit Wikipedia and I co-organize other campaigns