Young people from both banks of Dniester develop instruments of combating misinformation

Chisinau, 27 January /MOLDPRES/ - Fifty young people from both banks of the Dniester river on 26-27 January participate in the Hackathon, Nistru TruthBridge (Dniester TruthBridge). At the event, people fond of IT and communication will develop digital instruments of preventing and combating the misinformation and the discourse instigating to hatred.     

The Hackathon is held with the support of the project, Building sustainable and inclusive peace, consolidation of social confidence and cohesion in Moldova. The project is financed by the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund, implemented by several entities of the UN (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights – OHCHR, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Women).    

„I am full of enthusiasm that this event brought together people from different fields of life from the two banks of the Dniester river, creating for them space to explore ways in which the technology can help us better understand diverse flows of information, contradictory sometimes. The verification of the deeds based on evidence is the corner stone of the generation and reporting of the objective and qualitative media content. I am sure that the solutions proposed by the teams will have the potential to help us everybody better navigate through the content generated online and to contribute to the promotion of tolerance, pluralism and cohesion within the communities, as well as between them,’’ UNDP Resident Representative in Moldova Daniela Gasparikova said.    

Within the Nistru TruthBridge Hackathon, young people will work, test and experiment, turning their concepts of innovative solutions into functional prototypes, assisted by mentors from Moldova, Romania and Georgia, professionals in the field of visualization of data in the online environment, media experts and analysts in the sector of prevention and combating of misinformation, specialists in IT and development of applications, etc.    

The most innovating three prototypes will be financially backed, in order to be put into practice. Grants worth 5,500 dollars each will be provided – money due to be disbursed in two instalments: a half of the sum at the beginning of the project, the second – after the solution’s development. The winning teams will be consulted and guided by Transparency International-Moldova and UNDP. Both the users of social networks and journalists, the fact-checking networks, etc. will benefit from the final projects.