Ministry of Health spokesperson Or Vandine said misinformation on the virus was affecting the mental health of Cambodians. Heng Chivoan
For every piece of factual information on Covid-19, 142 fake reports are produced, according to figures from the World Health Organisation and the US Centres for Disease Control (USCDC), said Ministry of Health spokesperson Or Vandine.
“Fake news spreads even faster than Covid-19,” she quipped, when speaking at a debate on Wednesday entitled Journalism Tackles Covid-19 and Fake News.
A collaborative effort of the ministries of Information, and Health, together with the Club of Cambodian Journalists (CCJ), it also reflected on issues such as how misinformation impacts society.
Also present at the debate were Information and Broadcasting Department director-general Phos Sovan, CCJ secretary-general Puy Kea, and its president Pen Bona. Local journalists from a slew of media institutions joined the debate as well.
The Ministry of Information recently accused several Facebook users of spreading fake news about the virus and asked Facebook Inc to take action against them.
The ministry is educating journalists and the general public on the facts surrounding Covid-19 to end the barrage of fake news about the virus in Cambodia, said Sovan.
“We are informing the Ministry of Interior of cases where people were found to be spreading fake news so that they can deal with them.
“The Ministry of Information can generally take action [against media that spreads fake news] on its own. But, if Facebook users engage in this practice, then the task is transferred to the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications.
“We have seen several users knowingly disseminate false information about Covid-19, fabricating facts to mislead society. We have sent these users’ information to Facebook Inc so it can take action,” Sovan said.
Vandine said fake news spread fast because people find fabricated information more compelling than actual news. She said misinformation on the virus was affecting the mental health of Cambodians.
“False news about the novel coronavirus makes people uneasy and pollutes society. Misinformation spreads faster than accurate news.
“Unfortunately, not many people have the opportunity to read or listen to factual news because they are drowning in a sea of fake news,” Vandine stressed.
