Ecuador teams build tech to fight election disinformationCEFR B2
28 Mar 2025
Adapted from Melissa Vida, Global Voices • CC BY 3.0
Photo by Hartono Creative Studio, Unsplash
A revived local chapter of Hacks Hackers in Ecuador organised events in early 2024 to address electoral disinformation with technological approaches. The initiative grew from conversations between Ivan Terceros, co-founder of Openlab, a journalist and a communications consultant, and follows earlier activity in 2021. Organisers timed the events to respond to rising concerns before a presidential runoff.
On February 19 the conference "Artificial Intelligence and Disinformation during Elections" took place at the Simón Bolívar Andean University. Speakers included Jorge Cruz Silva of the Observatory of Communication (OdeCom) and PUCE, Luciana Musello of Universidad San Francisco de Quito, and Danghelly Zúñiga of Universidad del Rosario. Panelists examined how AI, bots and organised networks amplify false news and argued that disinformation can operate as a structured business rather than isolated actions.
- Goddard: a website that uses AI to analyse Ecuadorian media, detect hate speech, evaluate tone, compare data with reliable sources and offer alerts and explanations to improve media literacy.
- VeritasAI: a geo-referenced reporting system for citizens to register electoral irregularities with anonymous multimedia evidence, shown on an interactive map to monitor risks in real time.
- PillMind: a platform that uses AI to translate technical political promises into simple explanations, and to verify and contextualise them from economic, social and historical perspectives.
The hackathon "Citizen Technologies for Informed Decisions" was held on February 22 and 23 at PUCE, with around 60 participants including developers, data scientists, journalists and researchers. The three winning teams received USD 1,200 and specialised mentoring. Events were supported by Hacks Hackers Latam, Openlab, UNESCO and the Communication Observatory of PUCE. Organisers say the next steps include developing the prototypes beyond the hackathon and continuing activities throughout 2025 to build tools and spaces for debate on disinformation.
Difficult words
- disinformation — False information intended to deceive many people.
- amplify — Make something stronger or more widespread.
- prototype — Early model used to test an idea or product.prototypes
- media literacy — Ability to understand and evaluate media messages.
- contextualise — Place information within its wider background.
- anonymous — Not identified by name or personal details.
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- How might tools like Goddard and VeritasAI help voters recognise false information during elections? Give specific benefits and possible risks.
- What challenges do you think teams face when developing prototypes after a short hackathon event?
- Do you agree with organising events before a presidential runoff to address disinformation? Why or why not?
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