By Noreen Jazul
Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto on Monday warned the public of the abundance of fake news amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) health crisis.
Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto
(KEVIN TRISTAN ESPIRITU / MANILA BULLETIN)
In a tweet, Sotto reminded the public that there are “a lot of fake accounts, fake quotes, fake anything-you-can-think-of.”
Sotto said the growing number of fake news has been a “hassle to deal with” on top of the health crisis.
“Di siguro maiwasan sa panahong ito lalo na’t maraming bored. Basta ‘yung totoong account ko verified at pangit yung profile pic,” Sotto said.
The government has earlier made a stern warning against peddlers of fake news.
The Department of Interior and Local Govenemrnte has ordered the Philippine National Police to track down and arrest fake news purveyors who “endanger public order and cause panic.”
PNP, for their part, has created a task force against netizens spreading fake news relating to COVID-19.
So far, PNP has filed criminal charges against four individuals who were allegedly spreading fake news.