The Jordanian Media Credibility Observatory (Akeed), affiliated with the Jordan Media Institute, recorded 133 rumors in October, compared with 94 in September, marking an increase of around 41%. Many of the rumors involved misleading or fabricated information originating from numerous external accounts.
اضافة اعلان
In its monthly report on rumors, released Sunday, the observatory said the rumor index rose by around 27% above the monthly average recorded over the previous 12 months, an increase of approximately 28 rumors attributed to the exploitation of crises and events to mislead public opinion. The monthly average between October 2025 and September 2026 stood at around 105 rumors.
The observatory explained that the index is measured by comparing the number of rumors monitored during each month with the monthly average over the preceding 12 months, allowing it to track changes in the volume of false and inaccurate information circulating from one month to another.
Security and political rumors jointly topped the six monitored categories, with 34 rumors each, accounting for around 26% of the total in each category. Together, they represented 68 rumors, or approximately 51% of all cases recorded during the month.
Social rumors ranked third with 29 cases, accounting for around 22%, followed by rumors related to public affairs with 19 cases, or 14%. Economic rumors accounted for 13 cases, or around 10%, while health-related rumors ranked last with four cases, representing 3% of the total.
The observatory said 38 rumors originated from external sources, accounting for 29% of all recorded cases. However, 95 rumors were circulated by both domestic and foreign accounts, some of them anonymous, representing 71% of the total.
It stressed the need for greater caution when sharing and circulating information, particularly content that lacks reliable sources or originates from unverified social media accounts.
According to Akeed’s monitoring, external rumors were concentrated in the political and security categories. There were 21 politically related rumors originating abroad out of 34 political rumors, and 16 externally sourced security rumors out of 34 security rumors. There was also one external social rumor.
All economic, public affairs and health rumors were classified as originating from domestic sources.
Social media platforms accounted for 83 rumors, or around 62% of the total, compared with 50 rumors published through media outlets, representing approximately 38%, according to the observatory’s report.
Security and social rumors made up the largest share of cases circulated on social media, with 41 out of 83 cases. Political rumors, meanwhile, dominated the cases published through media outlets, accounting for 19 of the 50 cases.
The observatory noted that 49 rumors recorded in October, or around 37% of the total, were followed by denials or clarifications from the entities targeted by the rumors. No denial was recorded for 84 rumors, representing approximately 63% of the cases during the monitoring period.
Akeed uses the reach of false or inaccurate information as one of its criteria. Under its definition, a rumor must relate to a matter of public concern in Jordan or to Jordanian interests and must have reached approximately more than 5,000 people through digital media, regardless of whether the relevant authorities have issued a denial.
