Factly wins Rep. Ann Wagner’s 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Missouri’s Second District
Rep. Ann Wagner has named Kyler Wang and William Tanudyaya of Parkway West High School as the winners of the 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Missouri’s Second District. Their app Factly analyzes bias, accuracy, and AI influence of YouTube Shorts news stories.
When asked what inspired the creation of Factly, the students said, “The implementation of content algorithms in social media with short-form content leads to echo chambers of political ideology. The algorithm feeds you more polarized (and even false) information that they believe you want to watch. Social media has had a dramatic increase in AI-generated content, and lots of media online is filled with misinformation as well. Our app aims to mitigate the harmful effects of social media.”
The 2025 Congressional App Challenge marked another record-setting year for the program. A total of 394 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives hosted App Challenges in their congressional districts, the highest level of participation in the program’s history. More than 13,800 students from across the country participated, submitting over 4,600 original apps focused on real-world challenges ranging from health and accessibility to education, sustainability, and civic engagement.
The Congressional App Challenge is an official initiative of the U.S. House of Representatives that encourages middle school and high school students to learn to code, explore computer science, and build practical technology solutions for their communities. Each participating Member of Congress selects a winning app from their district, and winning teams are invited to showcase their projects to Members of Congress, staff, and industry leaders at the annual #HouseOfCode celebration on Capitol Hill.
The Challenge is proudly bipartisan and reflects a shared commitment to expanding access to STEM education and preparing the next generation of American innovators for the future workforce. The program is a public-private partnership made possible through funding from the Broadcom Foundation, AWS, Infosys Foundation USA, theCoderSchool, Apple, and others.
The 2026 Congressional App Challenge will launch in May, and eligible students can pre-register for the competition now.