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Summary
At the Africa Facts Summit 2025 in Dakar, NFM founder Simbiat Bakare discussed the growing threat of AI-powered gendered disinformation and explained how it targets women and spreads rapidly online, causing real-world harm. She called for stronger fact-checking initiatives, responsible AI use, and robust policies to protect women and safeguard democracy.
Naija Feminists Media founder, Simbiat Bakare, led a key session at the fourth edition of the Africa Facts Summit 2025 in Dakar, Senegal, where she addressed the growing threat of AI-powered gendered disinformation. She shared how manipulated content, targeting women, spreads quickly online and can lead to real-world harm, reinforcing misogyny and silencing women’s voices.
Organised by Africa Check, the summit was held from October 1 to 2 and brought together more than 200 participants from 20 countries across the continent. Attendees included journalists, researchers, technologists, civil society leaders, and policymakers, who gathered to reflect on the state of information integrity in Africa.
Simbiat Bakare led participants through a session titled “Fact-checking AI-powered Gendered Disinformation in the Digital Age.” She explained that AI, while driving creativity and efficiency, has also become a tool for spreading harmful content, particularly against women.
To illustrate, she referenced a recent case in Nigeria involving Emmanuel Ezeh, who digitally altered a woman’s image and fabricated WhatsApp conversations to spread false claims about a relationship with her. The misinformation went viral, exposing the woman to trolling, harassment, and death threats. Though later dismissed as a “cruise,” the incident revealed how quickly AI-driven gendered disinformation can escalate into real-world harm.
Simbiat stressed that gendered disinformation is rooted in systemic misogyny, disproportionately targeting women in public life. She noted that 96% of deepfakes circulating online feature women, often in non-consensual pornographic material.
She said that these falsehoods thrive on platforms such as Telegram, WhatsApp, private Facebook groups, and even the Dark Web, making them particularly difficult to monitor and regulate.
As part of the solutions, Simbiat pointed to digital tools such as Sensity AI, AI or Not, Fake Image Detector, and Deepware, which help detect manipulated images, text, and videos.
She emphasised that partnerships with technology platforms, direct escalation mechanisms, stronger fact-checking efforts, and media literacy campaigns are crucial in combating gendered disinformation.
In conclusion, Simbiat Bakare reminded participants that AI-powered gendered disinformation is not just a technological challenge but a gender justice issue. She called for responsible AI use, robust policies, and stronger fact-checking initiatives to protect women and safeguard democracy.
Following the presentation, she joined a panel session which featured Kangaye Sangare of Benbere, who discussed gender disinformation and its dangers. She described it as misleading information that targets people based on their gender, often taking the form of smear campaigns, sexualised rumors, and other tactics aimed at discrediting women.
The insightful session was moderated by Kwaku Krobea Asante of Media Foundation for West Africa.
