The arrest of a 55-year-old male suspect who allegedly circulated a misleading video clip on Covid-19 test kits being contaminated has been welcomed by the South African government.
The suspect appeared before a Western Cape court on 7 April and was charged in terms of regulation 11(5)(c) of the Disaster Management Act, in relation to ‘publishing any statement through any medium including social media with the intention to deceive any other person about measures by the government to address Covid-19’, according to SAPS spokesperson, Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo.
The government said in a statement, “Disinformation is unacceptable and dangerous to our society. Such acts should be condemned by all South Africans, who remain committed to fighting the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. All of us have a responsibility to desist from peddling fake news.”
The Gauteng Health Department said that their testing and screening operations around the province experienced a couple of hiccups as some residents refused to take the test, referring to the misleading video for their decision.
Any suspicious or fake news can be reported to Real411.org
Government has urged communities to work together to combat and report any person who misleads the public with the wrong information.
* Notice: Coronavirus reporting at Caxton Local Media aims to combat fake news
Dear reader,
As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19.
Readers with any comments or queries may contact national group editor Irma Green (irma@caxton.co.za) or legal adviser Helene Eloff (helene@caxton.co.za).
