BBN - MEDIA AND AI IN BENIN: A seminar in Parakou to counter disinformation and preserve peace

The three-day seminar for reflection and capacity building has begun. Since Wednesday, June 24, 2026, the city of Parakou has been hosting a crucial training seminar focused on media, artificial intelligence (AI), disinformation, and their impact on peace and social cohesion.

This initiative is the result of a collaboration between the International Foundation for Ibero-American Administration and Public Policy (FIIAPP) and the Banouto press group. It is fully integrated into the European Union’s Support to ECOWAS for Peace, Security and Governance (EPSG) project.

According to Léonce Gamaï Davodoun, journalist, media expert, and manager of Banouto, this hybrid seminar (in-person and online) has clear objectives for participating journalists:

To gain a deep understanding of disinformation, misinformation, and hate speech in the Beninese context.

To master practical fact-checking and ethical reporting tools.

To detect and counter manipulated content or content generated by artificial intelligence.

To adopt the practices of peace-sensitive and conflict-sensitive journalism.

To create strong synergies between media professionals and civil society.

From the introductory session, Léonce Gamaï Davodoun clearly defined the roadmap and the expected behaviors of media professionals at the end of these three days.

The agenda, as presented, precisely addresses the pressing needs of local media professionals, who are confronted daily with these changes. Present at the event, journalist and participant Olga Ahokpe shared her thoughts at the end of the first day.

“We are here to revisit our knowledge and best practices in addressing current information challenges. These challenges include disinformation, misinformation, and all the resulting consequences.”

For the media director, this refresher course is all the more urgent given the current climate of multiple tensions.

“We are living in a context of security crisis, and these crises are of various kinds: notably geopolitical, internal, interconnected, and related to health security. There are even internal crises, because communication and collaboration are not always easy in our personal relationships,” she explained.

The knowledge-sharing sessions kicked off with two major panels, directly addressing the concerns raised by the participants, followed by practical workshops.

To conclude this intensive first day, the participants met in group work to immediately put the concepts covered into practice and lay the groundwork for smoother collaboration in the face of information challenges.

Alvine ALLOGOGO and Azoumi KORA (Interns)