The Arab Fact-Checkers Network (AFCN) led by ARIJ, launched its new project entitled “Sa7”, with the support of the “Qarib” regional programme implemented by the French Media Development Agency (CFI) and funded by the French Development Agency (AFD), With the aim of supporting and developing the work of fact-checking organizations and freelance fact-checkers, during its 14th annual forum under the title “Journalism and Accountability in a Disrupted World”.
The #Sa7 project seeks to establish a network of organizations and individuals in four countries: Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, and Iraq, who will work together to combat the spread of misinformation and disinformation by promoting pre and post fact-checking best practices and methodologies, and instilling the concept of fact-checking within Arab media outlets through collaboration with written, visual, audio, and online media outlets; fact-checking organizations and individuals; and media professors and students.
AFCN, supported by Qarib, will focus through #Sa7 project, on developing the code of principles and correction policy for fact-checking in the Arab world, training and developing methodologies and skills for fact-checking through a series of workshops and webinars, designing educational materials and awareness campaigns, and organizing a regional track on fact-checking, in addition to developing tools and data sources in Arabic to support the work of fact-checkers in the region.
The #Sa7 project was built based on in-depth quantitative and qualitative studies conducted by AFCN for over a year, which revealed the challenges, difficulties, and obstacles confronting the development of pre- and post-publication fact-checking in the region, in order to counter the spread of misinformation and disinformation through traditional media, social media, and among policymakers and politicians, particularly after the COVID-19 crisis, and in countries facing political and economical instability.