Countering Disinformation in the Middle East

Eurasia Foundation’s Countering Disinformation in the Middle East (CODIME) project built the capacity of journalists and media producers to combat media manipulation and improve public media literacy in the Middle East. The program equipped media professionals with tools and techniques to understand the motivations, strategies, and tactics behind disinformation efforts. It then helped them effectively impact target audiences through messaging efforts that identify and counter false or misleading narratives.  

CODIME built a robust community of practice focused on understanding regional disinformation trends, resisting and refuting these narratives, and fact-checking best practices. This community of practice centered around CODIME’s digital hub. The platform served as a public interface for Arabic-speaking professionals to access the latest tools in fact-checking, regional trends, and open-source investigation, and hosted a range of multimedia pieces exploring contemporary issues across the Middle East.  

CODIME hosted multi-day workshops and trainings, where participants tackled a range of issues, including public health, education, culture, politics, finance, and digital hygiene. The project also supported in-depth journalistic investigations and multimedia campaigns. Pieces included fact-checking videos, podcasts, investigative reports, features, and human-interest stories, each of which was aimed at encouraging active engagement and critical thinking among media consumers.