Fact as Fiction: Identifying Mis/Disinformation in North Africa to Advance Citizen, Civil Society and Institutional Resilience October

The “Fact as Fiction” conference will offer an opportunity for participants and the public to discuss the latest developments in detecting and fighting information disorders and learn more about the presence of this phenomenon in North Africa. The Conference will offer insights on disinformation activities and their consequences.

With recent global challenges and the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been increased exposure towards online information which has created a fertile ground for information disorders activity. With the goal to provide information regarding challenges in the information environment in North Africa, focusing on the presence of disinformation phenomena, real-life experiences, and discussions on maintaining the integrity of information, this conference will be an interactive hybrid event.

The conference will be organized by the National Democratic Institute’s (NDI) Middle East and North Africa (MENA) team and Konrad Adenauer Foundation, and in partnership with International IDEA, AccessNow, Porticus, OECD, and Salam@. The event will consist of two days, with a combination of panel discussions, closed-door roundtables and rapid fire presentations that will provide information and solutions on topics related to information integrity disorders. The conference will feature stories from North Africa and the world focusing on the personal experience of people, civil society, organizations and other actors being affected by disinformation activity.

The event will bring together key local, regional and international actors and stakeholders, including journalists, CSO activists, social media and technology experts. Recent studies of the disinformation landscape in Tunisia and across North Africa indicates there is little to no coordination across donors or non-governmental organizations, both domestic and international, engaged in combatting disinformation -- unless the government is actively engaged in mis/disinformation. Many international organizations expressed a desire to understand current and planned initiatives both to reduce redundancy and to establish alliances and partnerships in pursuit of common objectives.