“We are used to smear campaigns. We are used to attacks. But this is next level.”

Since March, independent Lebanese media outlets Daraj and Megaphone have been subjected to a smear campaign involving leading Lebanese media outlets, coordinated online attacks and defamations as well as several legal complaints. The campaign is led by media organizations affiliated to the banking sector in Lebanon and the legal complaints have been submitted by lawyers whose affiliations remain unclear. Others have been submitted by prominent banker and philanthropist Antoun al Sehnaoui.

Daraj and Megaphone are accused of undermining the financial standing of the state, destabilizing confidence in the strength of the national currency and state bonds, inciting depositors to withdraw their funds and sell bonds, and receiving suspicious foreign funds with the aim of launching media campaigns that would shake confidence in Lebanon. 

The lawsuits show all the hallmarks of being so-called SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) – often brought forth by corporate actors to intimidate journalists, activists and critics and to drain them of recourses.

We talked to co-founder and CEO of Daraj, Alia Ibrahim, about the campaign, its consequences and how Daraj is responding. Since this interview was made in April 2025, new lawsuits have been filed. In total, Daraj is now facing 12 lawsuits.

Tell us about the campaign against Daraj?

In March, we learned through a media report that several lawsuits were being brought against us. Some on an individual level and some as an institution. The lawsuits came amid a huge campaign of disinformation about us both in media platforms like MTV controlled by Lebanon’s financial elite and what seems to be a coordinated online smear campaign on social media platforms.

Who is behind this campaign and why have they initiated it?

The smear campaigns and the lawsuits seem to be orchestrated by some very powerful people in Lebanon’s banking and financial sector. During Lebanon’s financial collapse in 2019, we started an investigation about the central bank governor, Riad Salame. Our aim at the beginning was just to prove that the central bank governor himself had his money out of Lebanon, whereas over a million depositors had lost their own money that was locked in the bank.

Three years down the line, we had discovered that the central bank governor, the regulator, was not only protecting his own money, but was involved in aggravated money laundering. He is being sued in six different European countries, and he is also facing charges against him in Lebanon.

Why is this campaign happening now?

Daraj has been doing investigative reporting since we were founded in 2017, and we have uncovered many stories on corruption in Lebanon. We are used to attacks and we are used to smear campaigns, but this is next level for us. What has changed is that we now have a new government in Lebanon that is taking accountability and judiciary reform seriously. So suddenly, these bankers are seeing that our work has become very dangerous because now our work could actually lead to charges and convictions.

What is the aim?

Their aim is to shut us up and preferably shut us down. As a minimum, they can take away some of our recourses from our work and in some ways, they are succeeding. This means that instead of focusing on our work – which is investigating them – we’re now wasting our time just answering these campaigns that are targeting us.

How is this impacting Daraj and the work you are doing?

The accusations are ridiculous enough to almost feel harmless. How can an investigative media platform that was founded in 2017 be responsible for Lebanon’s financial collapse in 2019? However, it would be naïve to think that this disinformation cannot harm us when there are so much money and effort put into this narrative arguing against us.

It is also – as was the intention – draining a lot of our resources, it’s draining a lot of our time and money. It is taking a toll on our team and our mental health. It is toxic.

In the short term, however, it is also giving us a lot of visibility. We are suddenly becoming a household name. People who never heard about Daraj or the work that we’ve done, now know what we do. It’s giving us an opportunity to talk about what we do and explain it to people. Still, all of it is taking away resources from actually doing the work which is investigative public-interest reporting.

What are the consequences generally for independent press and freedom of speech in Lebanon?

This some ways sends us back to square one, because they have managed to put into question the credibility of independent journalism. We should not be discussing whether journalism is a good thing or whether it is important to investigate power and hold power to account. We – together with other media outlets and human rights defenders – have worked so hard to create a culture of accountability that has simply been absent in Lebanon for decades. Look at the port explosion in 2020: No one has been held accountable. This lack of accountability needs to change, and it should not be up for discussion.

However, I do see a silver lining because after all, this is an admission of the importance of our work. The amount of energy and the amount of money that is being used to attack us is also a proof that what we and others are doing, holding power into account, is working and is having an impact.