In December 2023, PJMF said it would back Meedan in a global fight against misinformation. This initial support helped us develop shared feeds, a feature that enables smoother collaboration between multiple organizations using Check, Meedan’s flagship product for connecting civil society organizations to their communities via messaging apps.

With this renewed commitment, Meedan will broaden Check to work for more types of civil society organizations, particularly those in the Larger World. The new project will focus on improving the experience for community members who interact with Check tiplines by enhancing the platform’s conversational interface with the assistance of large language models. Researchers will also explore new avenues for helping communities build collective knowledge through the use of closed messaging apps.

New approaches to meet a spectrum of information needs

Meedan will focus on ensuring Check meets the needs of diverse civil society organizations while continuing to improve how it serves community members whose complex information environments demand tools that help them navigate the world and make meaning of the content they encounter. Check’s industry-leading offerings are currently centered on menu-based interactions for fact-checking organizations, but for the product’s next phase, Meedan will codesign, experiment, and iterate on its features and capabilities in close collaboration with select partners, working together to push the open-source tool into new territory.

“At the heart of today’s information ecosystem is the need for communities to trust the information they encounter, and that trust requires new, robust tools that are built for purpose. Meedan’s Check platform empowers civil society organizations with the capabilities to connect meaningfully with those they serve. By integrating large language models, this next phase is a forward-thinking approach to combating misinformation and fostering collective understanding. As we strengthen our partnership with Meedan, I’m confident these advancements will provide communities with new tools to advance shared trust and common purpose.”

— Vilas Dhar, President of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation

The insights gathered from the initial stages of the project will help Meedan expand the capacity of Check across diverse languages for a vast network of civil society partners.

“We’re thrilled that PJMF has extended their partnership with us at Meedan,” Director of Research Dr. Scott A. Hale said. “Their support will help us continue to improve our software so that we can better meet the rapidly shifting informational needs of communities on messaging apps.”

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About the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation

The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation (PJMF) is a philanthropic organization dedicated to advancing artificial intelligence and data science solutions to create a thriving, equitable, and sustainable future for all. PJMF works in partnership with public, private, and social institutions to drive progress on our most pressing challenges, including digital health, climate change, broad digital access, and data maturity in the social sector.