AI Ethics, Data and Digital Rights Accelerator

Overview

The Accelerator brings together cohorts of journalists and civil society to take part in training courses covering both AI ethics and DDR. The goal is to foster collaboration between these stakeholder groups, encouraging more accurate and comprehensive coverage of AI-related human rights issues in their regions.

Through the Foundation’s global pro bono legal service, TrustLaw, the project also supports Sub-Saharan African and Latin American CSOs to identify gaps in existing legislation and advocate for robust AI governance that safeguards human rights.

A second phase of the Accelerator will work with newsrooms in East Africa and Latin America to increase their understanding of and capacity to use AI to complement their daily news coverage.

Key highlights

Through the Accelerator, the Foundation has delivered training to over 40 journalists, editors and representatives of tech and human rights CSOs in East Africa and Latin America.

Our TrustLaw team has also facilitated several innovative legal research projects to help shape ethical practices in both regions. 

In Latin America, TrustLaw collaborated with Access Now on a legal research project, producing the first comparative guide on AI legal frameworks across the region. In East Africa, TrustLaw published a toolkit resource – “AI Governance for Africa,” which seeks to empower CSOs and journalists to inform public discourse, drive policy and regulatory change and advocate for ethical and responsible AI deployment in East African communities.