In partnership with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF), ARIJ is launching its policy paper on Combating Disinformation in the Arab World (in both Arabic and English). This session will be dedicated to discussing the findings and moving forward in light of them. Naming the political, psychological and technical circumstances that facilitate its spread, this policy paper found that pandemic-related fear, cultural mistrust of governments’ handling of the pandemic, and growing personal risks facing journalists encourage the spread of fake news in the region. Additionally, the pandemic has made more visible a lack of qualified medical journalists in the Arab world. Media education at all levels, with an emphasis on news auditing, proves paramount. ARIJ found that the pandemic, although devastating to both human health and media health, has awakened initiatives throughout the region to reducing the spread of health-related disinformation. Projects in Morocco, Egypt and Jordan, among others, have taken responsibility for accurate reporting and news dissemination.

Watch the session through ARIJ Academy