The Arab Fact-Checkers Network (AFCN) led by ARIJ has delivered 40 Digital Safety  Clinics between February and August 2023,  as a part of “SA7” project. Attended the clinics, 40 participants including fact-checkers from 12 fact-checking organisations/initiatives and 4 media organisations from Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan, in addition to freelancer fact-checkers and media professors.

The clinics were conducted by ARIJ’s digital safety team, the participants were equipped with all the necessary applications in advance, and requested to obtain a certificate from the ARIJ’s “Cyber Security Basics for Journalists” course before the session, which teaches them the basic knowledge of digital security, and how to protect themselves against electronic attacks, malware and phishing.

In the digital clinics, the digital safety team guides the participants to activate the Two-Factor Authentication feature on their accounts, and checks all measures that increase the protection of these accounts against breach, in addition to checking the privacy measures in the internet browsers they use and protecting them from tracking and data theft, also they ensure the voidance of the device from malicious programs by fully scanning the device, and ensuring that it’s running with the latest updates and protection measures.

These clinics are being conducted regularly to ensure robust digital security for our community of fact-checkers and the media organisations collaborating with us, as 40 clinics were conducted last year 2022.

SA7 project aims to enhance the best practices, methodologies and tools for fact-checkers in the Arab region. Sa7 project of “Qarib” program, is implemented by the French Media Development Agency (CFI), with the support of the French Development Agency (AFD).