Fighting Misinformation: Exploring Diverse Solutions

At just 24 years old, Nessa Kiani has launched an innovative platform that aims to combat misinformation in conflict zones. Her app, Culldron—whose name references both information “culling” and a cauldron of ideas—combines peer-reviewed content, cryptocurrency micropayments, AI-generated media, and blockchain technology to deliver verified information to those living through war.

Originally a research data scientist at the University of California, Irvine, Kiani had been developing a tool to debunk medical misinformation before pivoting to focus on conflict zones, beginning with Ukraine. The platform, which launched last month, offers users tiny cryptocurrency payments—up to a tenth of a cent per interaction—to share and verify news from the war, including air raid alerts and drone sightings.

“It’s almost like an experiment,” Kiani explained, describing how the platform uses a peer-review system similar to X’s Community Notes, but specifically designed for war zones. Users can also offer “bounties” of any amount to solicit specific information, such as updates about neighborhoods affected by bombing, which could be particularly valuable to displaced residents.

The business model aims to “give an income stream to people who are in areas that have destabilized economies,” according to Kiani. She secured initial funding of $500,000 from friends and family to get the project off the ground, working with a small team of two engineers. Kiani comes from significant means—her father is Joe Kiani, founder of medical monitoring company Masimo and one of Orange County, California’s wealthiest individuals.

However, experts have raised concerns about the platform’s verification model. Yehven Fedchenko, editor-in-chief of Ukrainian fact-checking site StopFake, questioned the timeliness of verification given the minimal financial incentives. “Some of the fakes are very time-sensitive, so you just cannot put it there for two months to verify,” he noted. “The harm is sometimes immediate.”

The platform’s moderation policies have also drawn scrutiny. Culldron allows users to create multiple anonymous “personas,” with a singular “credibility score” following them across identities. Kiani stated that Culldron won’t generally delete or ban accounts posting inaccurate information, except in cases involving illicit content like pornography or violence.

“We definitely still want to make sure that everyone gets their voice, even people who maybe aren’t putting the best information out there,” Kiani said, though she noted persistent spreaders of misinformation may eventually face posting restrictions.

The platform employs automated software to immediately assess post accuracy based on metadata, geolocation, time stamps, and reverse image searches, assigning a dynamic credibility rating of up to five dots that adjusts based on peer reviews. Yet Valeriia Stepaniuk, acting head of VoxCheck in Ukraine, expressed concerns about coordinated manipulation: “People who are engaged in spreading fake information might come to this network because they want to spread their thoughts.”

While building its user base, which currently stands at a few hundred accounts, Culldron has been scraping and sharing posts from Telegram—a platform notorious for misinformation. Kiani says she’s mitigating this risk by consulting with Ukrainians about which channels are most trustworthy. “We are on the people’s side. We’re on the journalists’ side. We’re just trying to give people ownership and save information so that the narratives don’t get lost later on,” she explained.

Theodore Glasser, an emeritus professor of communication at Stanford who advised on the project, expressed cautious optimism: “It’s exciting. It’s innovative. I think it deserves a chance to succeed. I don’t know whether it will succeed.”

Looking ahead, Kiani hopes to attract what she calls “war influencers” in Ukraine with large audiences to produce exclusive content for Culldron, thereby gaining traction. If successful, she envisions expanding the platform to other conflict areas including South Sudan, Iran, Venezuela, and even the United States.

“I guess we would want to cover conflict zones in general, and be the platform where things happen overnight,” Kiani said, outlining her ambitious vision for Culldron’s future in the complex landscape of crisis information management.