Kinshasa – July 29, 2025 – Balobaki Check, a leading fact-checking initiative focused on tackling misinformation across the francophone arena and the most biggest country in francophone Congo Republic democratic of Congo, has been officially verified on Tuesday as a signatory to the code of principles of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) at Poynter.

“Congratulations! We welcome BALOBAKI CHECK in joining IFCN’s Code of Principles as a Verified Signatory. It’s great to have you on board, and we look forward to deepening our collaboration for the advancement of fact-checking”, IFCN said in its confirmation to Balobaki Check. 

This statement follows the successful conclusion of our in-depth review process conducted by the IFCN. This independent organization analyzes sources, funding, methodologies, and commitment to impartiality and accuracy. The IFCN certified Balobaki Check as compliant with its standards in July 2025.

The International Fact-Checking Network is a unit of the Poynter Institute dedicated to bringing together fact-checkers worldwide.

BALOBAKI CHECK works to ensure the integrity of information in the public arena. We were founded in 2022 in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“Launched in the context of the 2022 elections, our team has seen positive repercussions on the global French-speaking scene thanks to our recent distinction as the best editorial innovation in 2024 by the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF). Becoming a member of the IFCN is particularly important to us, as it increases the impact of our work on a global level. We are determined to maintain our commitment to our community by ensuring the integrity of information in the public sphere. This, in itself, is a way of strengthening democracy and promoting a peaceful way of life,” said Ange K. Adihe, founder and executive director of Balobaki Check.

• Our aim

To strengthen democracy in the DRC through training for journalists, media education and quality content to combat hate messages and Fake news within communities. Our contributors are journalism and communications students, journalists and researchers interested in fact-checking. We also look into the impact of fake news on the community and the protection mechanisms that are put in place.

Balobaki Check is a non-partisan organisation that aims to strengthen democracy ensuring the accuracy of information in the public arena in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We work towards this aim through training for journalists, media education and quality content to combat hate messages and fake news.

Committed to integrity, we work day in, day out to improve our output and to align with the codes and principles of the International Fact-checking Network, a section of the Poynter Institute whose mission is to bring together fact-checkers from around the world. We work to adhere to their fundamental operating principles of commitment to impartiality, transparency and accuracy.

• Commitment to impartiality and fairness
• Commitment to standards and transparency of sources
• Commitment to transparency of funding and organisation
• Commitment to standards and transparency of methodology
• Commitment to open and honest corrections

Balobaki Check in 5 key dates

• 2022: launch of the Balobaki Check fact-checking website
• 2023: covering the presidential election; first political changeover in the DRC, independent since 1960
• 2024: first Francophonie editorial innovation award
• 2025: launched the DRC Fact-checkers collective
• 2025: signed member of the IFCN Code of Principles