PSA: Combat Fake #CoronaVirus News with KKM’s Instagram

By Karissa Lund • 29 Jan 2020 in News

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(source: IG @kementeriankesihatanmalaysia)

The Coronavirus outbreak in the social media era is causing rapid spread of panic and uncertainty. By scrolling through Twitter, you can see netizens have been actively taking precautions by keeping their hygiene in check and wearing a face mask to protect themselves from the disease.

It’s to the point where netizens have been complaining that most pharmacies have been sold out of antibacterial hand sanitizer.

Went to 4 different pharmacies to stock up on sanitizers and wew. Semua habis.

Good side, bagus masyarakat kita ada kesedaran and proaktif. Down side, I DONT HAVE A HAND SANITIZER,,,,

— Azfarism (@Azfarovski) January 27, 2020

While yes – it’s good that Malaysians are actively protecting their health, it’s also important for us to avoid fear-mongering and misinformation – especially the rise of fake news regarding the virus these past weeks.

According to The Star, Bukit Aman is investigating five cases of fake Coronavirus news circulating through social media and they’re not stopping anytime soon.

“Spreading news to cause fear and panic among the public can also be investigated under Section 505 of the Penal Code, which carries two years imprisonment or a fine or both upon conviction,” said The Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).

MCMC and the police reminded netizens that such a stern action is taken to ensure that fake news about the virus is not spread by irresponsible individuals that could disrupt public order.

Bukit Aman’s CID noted that Malaysians can rely only on official channels to get the latest information on the virus. It’s easy as visiting the Health Ministry(KKM) official website or statements issued by the ministry.

Still leceh? Now, you could just open up KKM’s Instagram for all the latest update, infographics, press statements and even false debunking of news. Super accessible for anyone to fact-check!

View this post on Instagram

Senarai berita palsu berkenaan Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) di negara ini. Kenyataan rasmi mengenai Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) hanya dikeluarkan KKM dari semasa ke semasa.

A post shared by Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia (@kementeriankesihatanmalaysia) on Jan 28, 2020 at 8:16pm PST

According to Malaysiakini, Health director-general – Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a statement yesterday that there is a total of seven positive cases involved Chinese nationals in Malaysia. He said the Health Ministry has always ensured that preparedness and response towards disease outbreaks would be implemented quickly and efficiently.

He reminded that existing capacities and capabilities are being enhanced to address the incident of coronavirus infections.

For more updates, follow KKM’s Instagram by clicking, here.

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