32). Ben Messaoud (2021, 33–36) lists eighteen initiatives and projects launched in nine Arab countries. Among these there is only one initiative affiliated with media outlets. To explore the nature of the work conducted by fact-checking organizations and the tools deployed by them, Abdel Ghany (2020) studied two factchecking pages on Facebook: Akeed, affiliated with the Jordan Media Institute, and the Egyptian project Matsda2sh. The study observed fifty-four posts on both pages in 2019. The study concluded that both Facebook pages tackle all types of fake news, instead of focusing on only one issue, and that they educate the public on how to verify media content (Abdel Ghany 2020, 28, 29). The pages use only text and static photos. The study showed that interaction is low on the Jordanian page. On the Egyptian page interaction fluctuated between low and medium. On both these pages, interaction took the form of sharing posts that refer to the positive role of the audience in the fact-checking process (Abdel Ghany 2020, 32, 33). Another study highlights the role of citizen journalism platforms in combating fake news. Al Jalabneh and Safori (2020, 9441) refute the accusation often levelled against citizen journalism, namely that it can also promote fake news on social media. These scholars assert that citizen journalism is created by activists, whereas fake news is spread on social media by unknown sources with unknown agendas. Citizen journalism aims to fill the gap left by traditional media, as independent fact checkers have found that mainstream media do not tend to place emphasis on critical thinking, science, and verification. These individuals have thus established alternative media platforms to fact check content (Bailla and Yachoulti 2020, 23). Bailla and Yachoulti (2020, 11) examined eight fact-checking initiatives in Morocco and found that they all address a variety of issues and contextualize these issues in order to avoid manipulation. The main aim of the fact checkers is to accurately simplify the issues for the audience, without distorting them (Bailla and Yachoulti 2020, 16). Three of the fact checkers focus on piquing the interest of the audience by adding a sense of humor. The quality of sound is also considered (Bailla and Yachoulti 2020, 17). This study also shines a light on the economic dimension. It was found that there are two business models: while Safsafi and Mokhtari are self-funded, Fekkak depends on online revenue. Although the self-funding of citizen fact checkers guarantees their independence, it does not guarantee their sustainability (Bailla and Yachoulti 2020, 21, 26). I N FO R M ATI O N D I SO R D ER IN THE GLOBA L SOUTH The funding of fact-checking platforms affiliated with institutions has also attracted the attention of researchers such as Ben Messaoud (2021), who recommends that fact-checking platforms be independent from funder interference. Independence can be actualized, on the one hand, by the diversity and variety of the content. On the other hand, fact-checking platforms should explicitly divulge the beneficiaries of their monitoring efforts. On a practical level, observers should have expertise and team members should be selected from different disciplines so that they can complement each other. In terms of methodology, the survey method is suitable for measuring audience reception of fake news, content analysis is recommended for verifying content and identifying fake news, and interviews with policy makers can reveal their opinions on fabricated content and current issues. In all cases, Ben Messaoud (2021, 38–39) proposes that the methodology used during fact checking should be published and the team of fact checkers should be open to any feedback. 4.3 THE USE OF AI IN COMBATING INFORMATION DISORDER AI is defined as a branch of computer science and information technology that studies how computers can do thinking, learning and self-development with human intelligence […] it is artificial intelligence that allows computers to imitate human intelligent behavior. Also, artificial intelligence does not exist in its own right, but has much to do with other areas of computer science, directly or indirectly. In particular, attempts to introduce artificial intelligence elements in various fields of information technology to utilize them in solving problems in the field are very active. (Kang and Lee 2019, 51) In the fake news field, AI has been seen by researchers as a double-edged sword. AI can be abused to disseminate fake news, through bots which are produced by automated programs. Bots are fake social media users that disseminate predetermined propaganda (Atif, Mahdy, and Moustafa 2020, 7), for example as was seen during the 2017 diplomatic crisis among Gulf states (Jones 2019, 1393). However, AI is also used by IT companies, such as Google and Facebook, in the form of algorithms designed to reveal take content and prevent audience exposure to it (Zhuk et al. 2018, 446). In Arab countries, researchers from the UAE and Jordan developed a false news discriminator algorithm called News Checker to spot fake news Middle East and North Africa – 70