The Ministry of Interior (MoI) has warned public against spreading rumours and fake news. The Ministry will take legal measures against those found circulating rumours.
“Involvement in spreading or circulating rumours is a serious offense and may expose you to legal accountability,” said the Ministry on its official twitter account. “The competent authorities will summon those who publish and circulate rumours and all legal measures will be taken against them,” it added.
The MoI has advised people to take information from its official sources. “Be keen to get the information from its original sources to stay away from rumours and information from unconfirmed sources,” said the MoI.
This warning came after the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) announced three more positive cases of coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) in Qatar. Many rumours are circulating on social media about the number of COVID-19 cases in Qatar, spreading fear and panic among citizens and residents.
Residents have welcomed the Ministry’s decision to curb fake news. Sharing their views on twitter, many residents said that the decision has come at the right time and the Ministry should focus on people who have large number of followers.
“We are in a situation in which it is dangerous to spread fake news. We hope that we will not circulate or help in spreading any information that is not from official sources. For the information that reaches you, don’t resend it, nobody is compelling you to send it, specially on WhatsApp,” tweeted Engineer Hamad Lahdan Al Mohannadi, a former CMC member.
Another commented on the MoI tweet saying that “public must not share any news that is not coming from an official source. WhatsApp is not an official source.” In a press conference held yesterday, the Ministry of Public Health officials debunked the rumour that there is a death in the country due to the coronavirus. MoI has urged people to get the information from original sources and to stay away from rumours and anonymous stories.
