6. GOVERNMENTS’ ROLES IN COMBATING INFORMATION DISORDER Since the Arab Spring, the MENA region has been in a state of political and economic turmoil, in addition to experiencing security problems. There have been many conflicts and crises; some of these include the outbreak of civil wars in Syria, Libya, and Yemen; the suffocating economic crisis in Lebanon; regime change in Egypt; and a rift between the Gulf region and Qatar. Moreover, the region has witnessed the emergence and decline of the terrorist organization ISIS. This is in addition to many other events that were accompanied by sharp waves of mis- and disinformation, disseminated especially through traditional media, social media sites, and chat applications. The regimes of the Arab countries might themselves sometimes be a source of disinformation, especially during elections and crises and when people’s satisfaction levels with their governments decrease. This is especially the case in countries where freedom of expression and freedom of the media are absent. It is obvious that combating information disorder is not a priority for many Arab governments. However, the Covid-19 crisis prompted the majority of Arab governments to launch awareness campaigns against the spread of mis- and disinformation related to health issues combat mis- and disinformation. The study examined the official initiatives launched by Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. The media center of the Egyptian Cabinet refused to communicate with us for an interview, and the Vision Realization Office in the Saudi Ministry of Information did not respond. We were able to conduct interviews with Fact Check Lebanon, of the Lebanese Ministry of Information; Haggak Taarif (It’s Your Right to Know), of the Jordanian government; and Tahaqaq, of the Kuwaiti Ministry of Information. Table 11: Initiatives by government agencies or ministries to combat information disorder in the MENA region Initiative Government organization/ ministry Fact Check Lebanon Lebanese Ministry of Information and the National News Agency (NNA) Lebanon https://factchecklebanon.nna-leb.gov.lb/ Haggak Taarif Jordanian government Jordan https://haggak.jo/website/Default.aspx Department of Rumors Ministry of the Interior Iraq The Cabinet Information and Decision Support Center Egyptian government Egypt Online challenge to detect fake news Vision Realization Office at the Saudi Ministry of Media Tahaqaq Ministry of Media Kuwait https://tahaqaq.media.gov.kw/ Guidelines for dealing with rumors, fake news, and disinformation The media portal of the Ministry of Information Oman https://www.omaninfo.om/library/74/show/6136 I N FO R M ATI O N D I SO R D ER IN THE GLOBA L SOUTH Country and to promote accurate information about the virus and vaccines. The largest number of initiatives launched by government organizations or ministries of information and media in a number of Arab countries were launched during the Covid-19 crisis. Before that point, only certain countries had realized the importance of combating rumors and disinformation, and initiatives were launched earlier in countries like Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt. For details of the most prominent initiatives, see Table 11. All these initiatives focus on refuting rumors, correcting false information, and running awareness campaigns through websites or pages on social media sites. We did not observe any other kind of response or any national policies devised to Saudi Arabia Website or social media page https://www.facebook.com/department.rumor https://www.idsc.gov.eg/Home/Index https://twitter.com/media_ksa/status/1372491783683334145 Middle East and North Africa – 47