The reality of the practice of fact-checking in the Arab world A field study on a sample of Arab fact-checkers

Abstract:

The study aimed to identify the reality of the practice of information verification in our Arab world - specifically post-publication verification - by conducting in-depth interviews with a sample of 20 information auditors from 11 Arab countries, namely (Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Tunisia, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Bahrain, Palestine, and Jordan).

The in-depth interviews revealed that the practice of fact-checking is not common in all Arab countries and is completely absent in some countries. The results of the interviews showed that independent media institutions are the most common form of fact-checking in the Arab world, while the adoption of this practice by newsrooms is still limited. The results showed that fact-checking is an extension of journalistic work and is subject to the same ethical principles, including credibility, transparency, objectivity, and integrity. The results showed that fact-checkers in the Arab world in particular suffer from many pressures and challenges, perhaps the most prominent of which are legal pressures related to the freedom to circulate and publish information, followed by professional pressures. Security pressures cannot be ignored, which vary according to the political and social context of each country. Fact-checkers are also exposed to great psychological pressures, and finally economic pressures related to the ability of media institutions to continue working in this field.

Keywords: fact-checking, fact-checkers, misinformation.