Department Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo M. Año directed on Tuesday the Philippine National Police (PNP) to arrest groups or individuals spreading fake news about the 2019 novel coronavirus (nCoV) to the public.
“We will go after the perpetrators of false information on coronavirus because their acts are inimical to the interest of the general public,” Año said.
With the country facing nCoV dilemma, Año stressed the need to end this “nuisance activity. Let’s not propagate erroneous information that is more viral than the virus itself. We already have enough on our plate’’.
“Hindi po sila nakakatulong sa paglutas ng ating problema bagkus mas pinapalala pa nila ang problema,” he added.
With his order, Año expects the PNP to intensify the arrest of those “guilty of spreading false information on the issue on various social media platforms’’.
“Freedom of expression has limitations, especially when its exercise threatens the welfare of the public. We must put an end to fake news on social media,’’ he noted.
Año warned the unscrupulous groups spreading lies about the virus to stop now before the law catches them.
DILG Undersecretary and spokesman Jonathan Malaya said that the DILG itself was a victim of fake news when an infographic allegedly coming from the agency last Friday claimed that the department has decided to place on mandatory quarantine all travelers from 23 countries who have confirmed nCoV cases.
“The unauthorized and patently illegal infographic went viral and caused panic among travelers who wanted to cancel their travel plans because of the misrepresentation of these people. It has become absurd and worrisome,” Malaya said.
“Again, we urge the public to trust only official sources of information and to verify first before sharing. Think first before you click,” he added.
Malaya said that the PNP’s Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG), which investigates crimes using Information and Communications Technology (ICT), is capable of tracing and tracking fake news perpetrators on the Internet. It is currently verifying six suspected fake news posts on the coronavirus on social media.
“The PNP-ACG is working hard to detect the whereabouts of these law offenders. We expect arrests to be made soon,” said Malaya.
Malaya explained that Article 154 of the “Unlawful Use of Means of Publication and Unlawful Utterances” of the Revised Penal Code punishes perpetrators of fake news. (Chito Chavez)
