Fatabyyano

Fatabyyano
فتبينوا
Formation2014; 12 years ago (2014)
FounderMoath al-Thaher
Official language
Arabic, English
Websitefatabyyano.net

Fatabyyano (Arabic: فتبينوا, lit. 'to investigate') is a fact-checking platform based in Jordan. It was founded in 2014 by Moath al-Thaher.

History

Fatabyyano was established as a Facebook page in 2014 by Moath al-Thaher, a medical student. Its initial focus was on health misinformation. Al-Thaher was inspired to start Fatabyyano following the death of his cousin, who died a few months after stopping her chemotherapy treatment for skin cancer when she heard about a herb from Lebanon that was claimed to cure skin cancer. "Fatabyyano" is a holy command from the Quran that means "to investigate".

In 2016, Harvard University invited Fatabyyano to its annual conference as one of the best projects for that year in the Arab world. The next year, Fatabyyano was named one of the most creative youth projects in 2016 by Queen Rania of Jordan.

By 2019, Fatabyyano had expanded to fact-checking misinformation in the Arab world, including 22 countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. In 2020, it partnered with Meta Platforms for its Arabic-language fact-checking program in the MENA region and with the French Media Development Agency to produce content combating COVID-19 misinformation.

Fatabyyano has fact-checked misinformation in the Gaza war. It partnered with TikTok to fact-check Middle East content in October 2023.

Operation

Fatabyyano has received sponsorships from the Applied Science Private University and the Zedni Education Network. As of 2019, it was struggling to secure funding for its operations. That year, it was first certified as a fact-checker by the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN); its certification has not been renewed since 2024.

As of 2025, Fatabyyano is developing TrendCheck.AI, an AI-powered tool which aims to keep up with the high quantity and quality of AI-generated disinformation. The model has been trained on fact-checking data provided by the Fatabyyano team. In 2024, Fatabyyano was awarded a grant from the IFCN for TrendCheck.AI.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Flamini, Daniela (17 July 2019). "Religious ideologies and authoritarian regimes: the challenges faced by virtual newsrooms of Arab fact-checkers". Poynter Institute. Archived from the original on 7 January 2025. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Kleinwort, Jenna (20 June 2025). "AI in the Middle East: Fact-checkers fight fire with fire". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 18 October 2026.
  3. ↑ Dupire, Camille (18 December 2017). "Combating fake news: Ambitious project of Jordanian youth". The Jordan Times. Archived from the original on 22 April 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  4. ↑ "Facebook Announces it's Partnership with Fatabyyano As a Third-Party Fact-Checker in MENA". Fatabyyano. 20 March 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2026.
  5. ↑ Guantario, Giorgia (22 March 2020). "Facebook to launch Arabic third-party fact-checking". TahawulTech.com. Retrieved 20 October 2026.
  6. ↑ "The health crisis: what is the impact on our societies?". French Media Development Agency. 24 June 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2026.
  7. ↑ "Can Russian Be Heard In The Video Of The Hamas Attack That Was Disseminated On Facebook?". Myth Detector. 16 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2026.
  8. ↑ Ibrahim, Nur (29 February 2024). "Israel-Hamas War: Does Video Show Palestinian Girl Shooting Rifle at Israeli Soldiers?". Snopes. Retrieved 20 October 2026.
  9. ↑ Mao, Freya; Shen, Miya (30 March 2025). "Misleading: Image of a girl with scaly skin has nothing to do with Israel-Hamas war". Annie Lab. Retrieved 20 October 2026.
  10. ↑ "Our continued actions to protect the TikTok community during the Israel-Hamas war". TikTok Newsroom. 15 October 2023.
  11. ↑ "Fatabyyano". IFCN Code of Principles. Retrieved 20 October 2026.
  12. ↑ Nyariki, Enock (21 October 2024). "IFCN awards GROW 2024 grants to 20 projects from $12M global fund". Poynter Institute. Archived from the original on 13 December 2025. Retrieved 20 October 2026.