• There was insufficient information on initiatives in a number of countries, such as Oman, Djibouti, Comoros, Somalia, and Mauritania. In the following section of this study, we analyze the state of fact checking in the Arab world. Who are the active actors in the fact-checking arena? How are they participating in the fight against mis- and disinformation? What challenges are they facing and what are the solutions proposed to overcome these challenges? 4. FACT-CHECKING PLATFORMS AND ORGANIZATIONS Table 1: Fact-checking platforms, initiatives, and organizations in the MENA region (updated December 2021) Fact checking is not a new concept in the Arab world. Just like the term “fake news,” it has become a buzz word in recent years. Platforms and websites specializing in fact checking began to emerge in the region immediately after the revolutions during the Arab Spring of 2011 and the concomitant deterioration of security and the political situation in a number of these countries. The period of the Arab Spring was characterized by a massive flow of false and misleading information, which was used by political regimes as well as their opponents to influence the course of events. This study therefore discusses organizations and initiatives that have been combating information disorder in the region during the decade since the Arab Spring. Before 2015, there were a small number of platforms working to refute rumors and to correct fake news and publications on social networking sites. More of these platforms have been established in recent years, particularly during the Covid-19 crisis in 2020 and 2021. These have played an important role in verifying information in Arabic, especially information on health-related issues that has been circulated through social networking sites and smartphone applications such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Telegram. As shown in Table 1, we were able to identify fifty-three fact-checking platforms, initiatives and organizations, spread across sixteen Arab countries: ten in Lebanon, two in Syria, four in Jordan, two in Palestine, two in Iraq, two in Yemen, four in Egypt, five in Libya, three in Morocco, three in Algeria, eight in Tunisia, one in Saudi Arabia, one in the UAE, two in Qatar, two in Oman, and two in Sudan. There is no regional networking framework or all-encompassing alliance for these initiatives, except for the AFCN, launched by ARIJ towards the end of 2020 in response to the spike in mis- and disinformation brought on by the unprecedented worldwide Covid-19 pandemic. Eight out of the fifty-three identified platforms and organizations are currently inactive. At the time of completion of this study, no fact-checking platforms existed in Kuwait, Bahrain, Somalia, Mauritania, Djibouti, or Comoros. Name of initiative Country Website and/or social media account Status Fact-o-meter Lebanon https://maharat-news.com/fact-o-meter Active Tahaqaq Lebanon El3asas Lebanon Kel Yom Iche3a Lebanon https://www.facebook.com/rumourskelyomiche3a Inactive Adwa2 Lebanon https://adwa2.org/ Inactive The 961 Fact Check Lebanon https://www.the961.com/fact-check/ Active Annahar Tatahaqaq Lebanon https://bit.ly/2Rmz7ec Active Fake News + LelTawdih Lebanon Check Lebanon I N FO R M ATI O N D I SO R D ER IN THE GLOBA L SOUTH https://twitter.com/TahaqaqLb Active https://www.facebook.com/Tahaqaq.lb/ https://twitter.com/el3asas Active https://www.facebook.com/El3asas/ https://bit.ly/3397I1W https://bit.ly/3qsauvz https://www.facebook.com/check.leb Active Active Middle East and North Africa – 2 8