Stop fake news!

The act of spreading false information on social networks increases fear and confusion among people, potentially destabilizing political security and social order.

Taking advantage of the anonymity on social networks, some people have not hesitated to post fabricated and malicious information about the epidemic situation. Some people, because of being hasty and careless, want to bring information to everyone as soon as possible about things they care about and worry about the epidemic so that they can prevent it together. Excessive anxiety has caused them to lose their vigilance, unintentionally spreading unverified information, causing people to panic.

Remember, in the early days of the outbreak, on social networks, mixed news about the dangers of the SARS-CoV-2 virus or the number of deaths from this disease made the community extremely scared. In Hanoi, as soon as the Government announced the epidemic, people rushed to pharmacies to compete to buy masks and hand sanitizers, many people had to queue from 2 am. Taking advantage of this situation, speculators increased the prices of these two items many times higher than usual to profit, making it difficult for epidemic prevention and control work.

It was thought that after the 16th patient was cured, the whole country was happy with the initial successes in epidemic prevention and control, recognized by the international community and wanted to share experiences, then false information about the epidemic, distorted arguments about the Party's guidelines and policies, and the Government's solutions in epidemic prevention and control would no longer exist on social networks. But no, false rumors are still rampant with all kinds of arguments, especially when Hanoi had the 17th patient, a 26-year-old woman returning after traveling to several countries in Europe.

We had predicted that someone infected with Covid-19 would come to Vietnam from abroad. However, we were somewhat passive with this case, as the subject was dishonest in his medical declaration. It was several days after returning to Hanoi, having contact with many people and not having a cough and fever that she went to the doctor and was diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 virus.

People's fear has been exploited by bad guys to spread more false information, causing panic in society. Typically, Ms. KPT (born in 1984; residing in Dong Da - Hanoi) posted on her personal Facebook that female patient number 17 attended the opening event of Uniqlo at Vincom Pham Ngoc Thach and went to a bar in Ta Hien before being taken to a medical facility for mandatory quarantine due to testing positive for Covid-19. This type of information makes people think that "Hanoi has an epidemic everywhere"! The chaotic scene due to Covid-19 has recurred, when people flock to supermarkets to empty out essential goods to stockpile.

Not stopping there, spreading fake news about the number of positive cases and deaths in this or that place has also significantly affected the lives of people in that area, making them feel insecure, even being discriminated against and shunned by other areas for fear of infection.

In fact, in the flow of information about the epidemic, many people want to participate, showing that they are sensitive to current events and have an impact on society. It is worth mentioning that the subjects spreading fake news and false news are not only ignorant people, curious children or people who "attract views" for commercial purposes (online sales), but also educated and knowledgeable people, even many people in the showbiz world have quickly posted unverified information about the epidemic, causing anxiety in the community.

Dam Vinh Hung posted information that "two Chinese people infected with the Corona virus died at Cho Ray Hospital; Cat Phuong shared on her personal page: "The epidemic has reached District 1, and will spread to District 3, District 5, District 7..." and called on the audience to "buy and use AirPlus smart air-filtering masks for safety"; Meanwhile, model Ngo Thanh Van updated her status on her fanpage about the situation where airlines still have flights from Wuhan to Vietnam amid the Corona virus pandemic, while the Civil Aviation Authority had previously stopped licensing flights from Vietnam to Wuhan and vice versa...