Report: Morocco Among Top Countries Targeted by Fake News in June 2024

Marrakech – A new report released by media monitoring organization Misbar on July 3 reveals that Morocco was one of the countries most heavily targeted by disinformation campaigns in the month of June.

The report, which analyzed 176 fact-checking articles and 30 investigative pieces published by Misbar in June, found that out of the more than 20 countries covered in their investigations, Morocco ranked among the top three most targeted, alongside Yemen and Palestine.

According to Misbar’s findings, one of the latest pieces of fake news targeting Morocco was the false claim that a circulating image showed the funeral of Princess Lalla Latifa, the mother of Morocco’s King Mohammed VI.

Misbar’s investigation revealed that the claim was misleading, as the image was actually from 2016 and showed the funeral of Boris Toledano, the former head of the Jewish community in Casablanca.

The false claim spread widely on social media following the announcement on June 29 of the passing of Princess Lalla Latifa at the age of 78.

The widespread circulation of these fake photos prompted the Moroccan Ministry of the Royal Household, Protocol, and Chancellery to release an official statement urging citizens to respect laws relating to sharing online content.

The ministry called on all citizens to adhere to the relevant regulations, especially as the royal family is going through a period of mourning.

Misbar’s report indicates that the majority of the false claims they investigated in June were classified as “misleading”, a category used to describe claims containing biased or misleading information, promoting stereotypes or hate speech, containing irrelevant statements, inaccurate translations, or taking the subject out of its original context.

148 out of the 176 claims Misbar investigated, representing approximately 84%, fell into this category. 27 claims were categorized as “false”, while one was labeled as “sensationalized”.

The report also highlights the various topics and regions that were the focus of disinformation campaigns in June.

Most of the claims Misbar tracked were related to news, with a focus on current developments in the Middle East region, including the ongoing war on Gaza and military tensions in Lebanon and Yemen.

Misbar also debunked misleading claims related to the escalating clashes in Sudan and the influence of AI-generated chatbots on the European Parliament elections.

This latest Misbar report comes on the heels of a separate report released in March 2024 by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), which exposed an extensive propaganda campaign being waged against Morocco by Algerian content creators on social media platforms like YouTube.

The MEMRI report detailed how this campaign, which they noted aligns closely with Algeria’s foreign policy agenda, spreads disinformation and misleading narratives about Morocco, often using sensationalized and juvenile content to appeal to young Algerian audiences.

According to the MEMRI report, these Algerian YouTube channels, some of which boast hundreds of thousands of subscribers, consistently paint Morocco as an enemy while exaggerating Algeria’s military capabilities and ties to Russia.

The report warns that such propaganda, while serving short-term domestic purposes in Algeria by stoking nationalism and distracting from internal issues, ultimately undermines prospects for stability and peace in the region.