"EGYPT Chat"... an official Egyptian platform for monitoring rumors using artificial intelligence?

Egypt launched the “EGYPT” chat platform during the “Egypt Forum 2026” activities, with the aim of monitoring rumors, verifying circulating information and responding to them, relying on artificial intelligence techniques and linking content to official data sources, in an attempt to limit the spread of misleading information on the Internet and enhance citizens’ access to reliable information. The platform includes four main sections: news, awareness, statistics, and citizen inquiries.

More than 21,000 graphic elements were added to it, in addition to daily statements by officials in the media, according to the Cabinet Media Center. The platform relies on artificial intelligence techniques to analyze texts, images, and video clips, and link them to the temporal and informational context, which helps detect misleading content and tampering with information at an early stage.

It also depends on coordination between ministries, agencies, and governorates, through a decentralized system that allows each official body to include approved data and information in accordance with its jurisdiction, allowing verification of news and correction of circulating information more quickly. Information security expert, Mohammed Al-Harthy, said that the launch of the EGYPT chat platform represents a positive step towards providing an easy-to-use tool to verify information circulated on social media sites, by linking it to documented data and information issued by ministries and government agencies.

Al-Harithi added, in special statements to Ofoq News in Arabic, that the platform allows verifying the most popular content, in addition to reverse searching for images, topics, and video clips, matching the content with official sources, as well as monitoring images that have been subjected to manipulation or content that was created using artificial intelligence techniques. He explained that the importance of the platform is to collect tools for verifying information in one place, instead of the user having to use multiple websites and applications, pointing out that linking it to official data sources helps match circulating content with documented information and uncover misleading information.

Al Harithi pointed out that the most important challenge in confronting rumors is not limited to verifying information after it has spread, but rather extends to proactively monitoring what is being circulated on social media platforms and interacting with it before its spread expands, by clarifying incorrect information and making reliable facts and sources available regarding it. He stressed that the success of the platform requires constantly updating its technologies, quickly dealing with problems that users may face, in addition to constantly providing documented content. He explained that building trust in the platform is linked to the effectiveness of the services it provides and its ability to achieve tangible results. Positive user experiences can also encourage more citizens to use it and rely on it to verify information circulating on the Internet.

For his part, technology expert Muhammad Askar said that confronting rumors requires combining the use of technology and enhancing societal awareness, in light of the increasing flow of information through multiple sources, and social media platforms allowing everyone the ability to quickly spread and recirculate news without verifying its authenticity. Askar added that some entities and individuals exploit these platforms to promote rumors and misleading information, taking advantage of psychological factors to influence sectors of the public that may not have sufficient tools or knowledge to verify the information.

Askar pointed out, in exclusive statements to Ofoq News in Arabic, that the development of artificial intelligence technologies has increased the difficulty of distinguishing between real and fake content, as it has become possible to produce images and video clips that appear highly realistic, which requires the development of technological tools capable of detecting content tampering and verifying its source. Askar believed that verifying information related to government agencies requires coordination between ministries and official bodies, to ensure the accuracy of the news and decisions being circulated and to clarify the facts before the spread of rumors expands.

Askar stressed that technology alone is not enough to confront rumours, but must be integrated with efforts to raise the level of awareness and digital culture among citizens, so that they can verify information before circulating it and avoid unintended participation in spreading incorrect news. The user also represents an essential element in the system of combating rumours, along with technological tools and institutional efforts, so it is important that the platform contribute to enhancing the public’s ability to distinguish between reliable information and misleading content.