Egypt has launched an AI-powered tool for countering disinformation, days after security forces detained journalists working for the independent fact-checking outlet Matsad2sh.
The Chat Egypt app, unveiled at the 2026 Egypt Forum on Monday, draws on state-owned media and official communications to counter information designated as false news published outside official channels.
The government describes the app as the "first unified platform to combat rumours using artificial intelligence".
Its algorithm screens text, images and video and flags content it identifies as misleading or manipulated, the cabinet's media centre said.
It also tracks the spread of rumours and their circulation rates, and enables users to report potentially false content to authorities.
Statements by government officials are uploaded to the platform daily, along with information published in state media.
The app appears to have had a rocky launch, with local news outlet Almanasa reporting that the image and video verification feature was disabled a day after it went live.
The platform warns users that its answers may contain errors, omissions and outdated information.
Chat Egypt's launch came less than three weeks after security forces forcibly disappeared Matsad2sh's entire editorial team.
Prosecutors charged the six journalists with terror offences after they were held incommunicado for almost a week. They allege that the platform, whose name means 'Don't Believe It' in Arabic, has links to the Muslim Brotherhood and receives foreign funding to spread disinformation.
Lawyers representing the journalists say they reported being subjected to "various forms of torture and mistreatment".
The arrests triggered protests by dozens of local reporters at the Journalists Syndicate and were condemned by dozens of international organisations.
Egypt ranks 169th out of 180 countries on the 2026 World Press Freedom Index.
It is one of the world's leading jailers of media workers, with more than two dozen currently behind bars, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
