Join Fellowship

About the Fellowship

Protecting Civic Space Online and Offline

Our Story

#AFFCameroon began in January 2020 as #FactsMatter237, a fellowship that trained bloggers, content creators and community leaders in information verification, fact-checking, data journalism and digital rights.

Building on its success, the programme grew into the Africa Fact-Checking Fellowship Cameroon (#AFFCameroon) under #defyhatenow, training ten cohorts of fellows from every region of the country.

In 2026 the fellowship entered its second season as #AFFC – the AI-Influenced Fact-checking Fellowship Cameroon, under the “Protecting Civic Space Online and Offline” project. #AFFC adds two new focus areas: artificial intelligence, both as a verification tool and a source of disinformation, and Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI).

What fellows do

Selected fellows complete three months of training. They are then deployed to work on five thematic areas, each with clearly defined tasks.

A

FIMI monitoring & analysis

Track foreign and domestic influence operations, coordinated inauthentic behaviour, bot and troll amplification, and the geopolitical narratives that shape civic and electoral debate.

B

Information integrity & verification

Spot misinformation, disinformation and malinformation trends, verify claims with OSINT and fact-checking methods, and publish evidence-based reports that correct false narratives.

C

Community fact-checking

Build grassroots verification with local leaders, youth groups, media and civil society, and check viral rumours from WhatsApp, Facebook, TikTok and community spaces in English, French, Pidgin and local languages.

D

AI & emerging digital threats

Pre-bunk false narratives before they spread, detect deepfakes, cloned audio and manipulated visuals, and use AI-assisted verification tools responsibly, aware of algorithmic amplification and AI hallucinations.

E

Election integrity monitoring

Track election-related false claims, hate speech and incitement, verify political speeches and campaign content, and support peaceful elections with rapid-response verification.

What We Address

Cameroon’s information space faces four connected challenges:

  • Armed conflict in the Anglophone regions and Boko Haram/ISWAP violence in the Far North.
  • Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI), including Russian-linked networks such as Sputnik that target young journalists.
  • AI-driven disinformation shaping election and public health narratives.
  • Post-electoral tensions that have restricted press freedom since the 2025 elections.

Who We Are

Association Civic Watch, a Cameroon-registered nonprofit, implements the fellowship together with r0g_agency for open culture and critical transformation.

The programme is funded under the direction of Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) 

Partners & funder

#AFFCameroon by

Funded by