Moroccan Facebook Page ‘Matpartagich’ Fights Fake News

Rabat – Fake news is a global problem. The Facebook page “Matpartagich,” which literally means “don’t share” in the Moroccan dialect of Arabic, is tackling the issue.

Created on March 25, the page aims to fight rumors and fake news circulated on social media. The page already has over 11,000 followers.

“We are on the look-out for anyone who tries to fool Moroccans for political purposes. The wise will be informed of the truth,” says the page.

Last week the page called out a photo of a homeless mother and son playing on the street, allegedly taken in Morocco. After social media users circulated the picture, a number of people started raising funds for the Moroccan mother. However, Matpartagich confirmed the photo was actually taken in the Philippines and unrelated to Morocco.

Matpartagich also picked up a fake story about the German government not taxing Muslim restaurants and markets during Ramadan.

The stories Matpartagich picked up may for the moment be smaller tabloid matters, but the page has a broader role.

Thanks to social media, news, both true and false, circulates quickly. Initiatives like Matpartagich remind Moroccan users that not everything they see and read online is true.

News stories can generate strong emotions. When other users react to or re-share a piece of information, it validates a belief that the information is important because of the emotions it creates.

Pages like Matpartagich remind users to stop and think about the truth in what they read before re-sharing information.   

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