Fake news about COVID-19 is as dangerous as the virus itself. This was expressed by the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in February 2020 at the Munich Security Conference.
He stated: “We’re not just fighting an epidemic; we’re fighting an infodemic. Fake news spreads faster and more easily than this virus, and is just as dangerous.” And if we don’t tackle this, he went on, “we are headed down a dark path that leads nowhere but division and disharmony.”
Fake news can be spread easily nowadays across online and social media as content can be spread within seconds to thousands of people at once. The spread of misinformation could affect someone’s thinking, which will later affect false thoughts among the society.
On March 16, MCMC has established an official Telegram for sebenarnya.my portal that focuses on its effort to curb the spread of fake news through social media, which includes the issue of COVID-19.
Public citizens who would like to check the authenticity of the news they received can do so on https://t.me/sebenarnyamy, a portal that verifies the news fast and efficiently. This public service announcement is brought to you by MCMC Malaysia.
