THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
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Covid fake news complaints in Jan-Feb doubled figure last year

Covid fake news complaints in Jan-Feb doubled figure last year

Complaints about Covid-19 fake news during the ongoing second outbreak have already almost doubled the figure for 2020, the Digital Economy and Society Ministry said on Monday.

The ministry received 35.47 million complaints between December 19 last year and February 28, said DES permanent secretary Atcharin Pattanapanchai.

That compares with 18.81 million complaints of Covid-19 fake news during the first outbreak (January-September).

In the past two months, the centre against Covid-19 fake news has issued about 140 announcements. Of these, 70 per cent identified fake news, 20 per cent identified distortions of the truth, and 10 per cent confirmed real news.

“News about the second wave of Covid-19 is definitely being highlighted by the public, especially on social media,” Atcharin noted. “The number of fake news reports in the last two months has doubled the number seen last year,” he added.

Since Covid-19 first emerged, the centre has launched a total of 1,346 investigations into suspected fake news about the virus.

Most fake news about Covid-19 is in the health category (719 items, accounting for 53 per cent), followed by fake news about government policy (615 items, 46 per cent) and the economy (12 items, 1 per cent).

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