Sulaymaniyah:The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), alongside civil society organizations and specialized centers in the Kurdistan Region, conducted a workshop aimed at fostering youth involvement in creating technological solutions to counter misinformation and hate speech on social media platforms. This initiative was held in Sulaymaniyah as part of their broader efforts to promote peace through digital innovation.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, the workshop is a component of the “Social Media for Peace” project, which is funded by the European Union. Its main objective was to transform the ideas of young participants into practical digital projects by enhancing their skills in innovation, application design, and the use of artificial intelligence to verify information and reduce digital content manipulation.

The event gathered a diverse group including young people, journalists, content creators, developers, and technology enthusiasts. Training sessions addressed challenges like deepfakes, image and video manipulation, and the distribution of misleading news. Participants discussed developing smart tools for news verification, detecting manipulated content, and promoting media literacy. Emphasis was placed on the need to blend technical solutions with media literacy and ethical responsibility while respecting human rights and freedom of expression to reduce digital harm and encourage dialogue and social cohesion.

Themes of the hackathon included the creation of fact-checking apps, educational platforms for critical thinking, digital tools to counter hate speech, and technology-based initiatives to foster communication between different societal segments.

This initiative reflects UNESCO’s commitment to empowering young individuals to help build a safer and more responsible digital space by aligning technical skills with societal needs and inspiring innovation to tackle challenges in the evolving digital landscape.