Fighting COVID-19 misinformation with language technology
THE CHALLENGE
Communicating effectively in the languages and formats people understand became central to controlling the spread of COVID-19. The Global Humanitarian Response Plan recognized community engagement in relevant languages as a key strategy for tackling the pandemic in diverse contexts globally. In countries such as Nigeria and DRC, where several different languages are used, particular effort was needed to make accurate COVID-19 information accessible. As misinformation spread, public health outreach also became a vital defense strategy against the disease in many remote communities.
THE SOLUTION
To increase the accessibility of key public health messaging to speakers of minority languages in DRC and Nigeria during the COVID-19 pandemic, Translators without Borders (TWB) provided two-way multilingual information on COVID-19 through an advanced Chabot using natural language processing and AI. The Chabot provided up-to-date information and responded to the concerns of marginalized language speakers as they asked questions in an open format. TWB implemented this project with partners Mercy Corps in Nigeria and IFRC in DRC to expand the reach of content to populations with limited access to information, through WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger and SMS messaging systems in Hausa, Kanuri, English, French, Lingala, and Congolese Swahili. Individuals’ questions and discussions on the Chatbot also informed programs and helped organizations target messages to fight COVID-19 misinformation. This resulted in more effective and targeted messaging to fight misinformation to 3,174 users in Nigeria and 3,445 users in DRC. In Nigeria, the Center for Disease Control and local medical professionals actively participated in the creation of radio shows to provide accurate COVID-19 information to the targeted communities in response to the knowledge gaps identified through the Chatbot.
