2,151 rumours recorded in Jordan in past 5 years — monitor

AMMAN — A total of  2,151 incidents of rumours were recorded in the past five years, mostly on social media and news websites, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported, citing latest statistics.

Between August, 2018 and the end of December, 2022, a total of 503 rumours were published by local media outlets and 1,457 were posted on social media platforms, according to data collected by The Jordanian Media Credibility Monitor, Akeed.

Detailed reports on rumours in the Kingdom obtained by Petra through Akeed, the Jordan Media Institute platform that tracked fake news' origins, publishers and spread, found that they usually thrive in abnormal circumstances, such as times of crises, wars, natural disasters, etc.

However, they revealed that rumours do not disappear in ordinary circumstances, and spread more in certain social, political and cultural environments than others, and their spread depends on the degree of ambiguity and subject matter.

Specialists provided Petra with data on the circumstances of rumours spread, the extent of their impact on various walks of life, and ways of combating them, emphasising citizens' awareness and ability to verify the accuracy of information and taking it from reliable sources.

They noted the "joint, strategic" role of private and state institutions in countering rumours, underlining the need to differentiate between freedom of expression as per the law and disseminating misleading information that may be intended to offend a certain entity or personality.

Monitoring rumours in the Kingdom is a key focus at the heart of Akeed's tasks the year round, as reports are compiled and posted monthly and annually on its website, said Akeed Director Hussein Abu Rumman.

The latest report showed that 362 rumours were recorded in 2022, at a rate of 30 per month, said Abu Rumman, adding that most of these were economic, standing at 30 per cent, followed by public affairs and then security, with these domains often rotating monthly in first place. He pointed out that the origins of rumours were mostly internal, with 95 per cent coming from local sources.

Abu Rumman said that the latest Akeed report compared data from last year and the previous two years, with an average of 47 rumours per month recorded in 2020, which is “normal”, given their nature as 2020 witnessed the spread of the COVID pandemic.

The COVID’s impact persisted in 2021, with a rumour rate of 46 a month, reaching an average of 30 in 2022, which showed Jordanian society continued to be affected by conspiracy theories that existed during the pandemic, he said.