“Promoting media literacy will limit the spread of mis- and disinformation because people will use their critical thinking abilities.” Helmi Abu-Atwan criminalizing the circulation of false news can be and has been used to suppress freedom of opinion and expression. There are no real official policies in the Arab world to combat information disorder. Media literacy has the potential to build a mature society that understands media messages and knows how to distinguish accurate news from mis- or disinformation. In the next section of this study, we shed light on the governmental efforts and initiatives in the fight against information disorder in the region. Are these efforts enough? And are they contributing positively, or are Arab governments trying to control information and shield themselves from criticism by launching these initiatives? Coordinator of PYALARA, Palestine Dr. Fawaz Al-Shorooqi Specialist in media literacy, Bahrain “The only way to raise awareness among people is to provide them with media literacy skills so that they are capable of distinguishing misinformation from truthful news stories.” “The biggest role of media literacy is to raise the level of awareness of citizens so that they are qualified to distinguish truthful from false and misleading news.” Dr. Bayan Al-Tal Former director of the media literacy project at the Jordan Media Institute Najih El-Missaoui Dr. Jad Melki Director of the Tunisian Association for Media Education Founder of MDLAB, Lebanon “Media literacy helps in combating mis- and disinformation as it helps in many other areas. We push for media literacy and not media education or awareness, because literacy lasts a whole lifetime.” I N FO R M ATI O N D I SO R D ER IN THE GLOBA L SOUTH “We should raise awareness among school and university students about the dangers of mis- and disinformation and their impact on public safety and behaviour. This requires a clear approach, as well as diligent work at the level of training and awareness.” Middle East and North Africa – 46