Two Arrested For Spreading Coronavirus Fake News

[misskit]

Tappanai Boonbandit
Khao Sod English

BANGKOK — The government on Thursday said two people were arrested for posting false information about the outbreak of novel coronavirus.


Minister of Digital Economy and Society Buddhipongse Punnakanta said the ministry’s “Anti-Fake News Center” collaborated with the police to arrest Thitima Kongthon at her house in Bangkok’s Minburi district after she posted on her Facebook that a patient infected with the virus had died in Pattaya.


“The Anti-Fake News Center is compiling evidence to root out the source of fake news,” Buddhipongse said. “We’re working with the cybercrime police, but I have to admit that it’s difficult to identify suspects since they’re anonymous.”

MORE Two Arrested For Spreading Coronavirus Fake News

[harrybarracuda]

Some local said to me yesterday that 14 people had been diagnosed in Qatar.

"And where did you hear that?" I asked.

"Instagram".

[Chittychangchang]

On LBC radio last night a British banking expat in China was saying the actual number of deaths in China was 10 times what is being reported by the CCP.

[raycarey]

Two Arrested For Spreading Coronavirus Fake News

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last night a British banking expat in China was saying the actual number of deaths in China was 10 times what is being reported

[jabir]

I think we're on the well trodden path in global politics that a gov with form for lying releases lies in order to save face, then arrests or persecutes citizens for faking news or on some national security pretext when they expose those lies.

The message is simple, we lie for the good of the people, we believe our own lies, and so many people also believe our lies, often out of fear or retardation, that it should rightly be a criminal offence to disappoint them by making us look like liars.

[Farang Ky Ay]

I would refrain from panicking, just avoid crowded places, as this kind of new epidemic is always highlighted by the news as a worst case scenario. Like it was with the previous one (SRAS), when mortality rates and volumes were not that frightening, less than a regular flu epidemic...I remember governments spending shitloads of money to pharmaceutical businesses to get ready for a crisis that never occurred.

[Seekingasylum]

One hopes you will take comfort from those words when your lungs are filling up with phlegm and mucus and you gasp for air in a coughing fit until the moment your heart gives out and your bowels loosen as life seeps out of your dying body.

[NamPikToot]

One hopes you will take comfort from those words when your lungs are filling up with phlegm and mucus and you gasp for air in a coughing fit until the moment your heart gives out and your bowels loosen as life seeps out of your dying body.

I think he's not as old or at risk as you. Still its great you popped out to expose yourself today.

[Looper]

Tappanai Boonbandit

Boonbandit

[Chittychangchang]

I think he's not as old or at risk as you. Still its great you popped out to expose yourself today.

A ray of shining light concealed behind his stained Macintosh.

[Farang Ky Ay]

One hopes you will take comfort from those words when your lungs are filling up with phlegm and mucus and you gasp for air in a coughing fit until the moment your heart gives out and your bowels loosen as life seeps out of your dying body.

I can feel the warmth that TD-membership can bring there, thank you SA...wish you the best end of life moment too!

[misskit]

PM points to panic caused by fake news as worst aspect of virus crisis

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said today that the worst thing about the ongoing novel coronavirus situation in Thailand is panic caused by fake news, as he warned those with ill-intent that they will be dealt with decisively and in accordance with the law.


He reassured the Thai public that their Government is capable of containing the spread of the coronavirus and is fully equipped to accommodate the 160 Thais being evacuated from the Chinese city of Wuhan tomorrow on a chartered flight.


“You can burn anything you like, but do not burn your own country – burning it with distortion, with fake news. I am not quarrelling with you, but I must warn you,” said the Prime Minister, apparently referring to those who disseminate distorted, inaccurate or false news about the virus on social media.


Chairing a meeting of officials charged with managing the coronavirus outbreak, the Prime Minister stressed that the current situation does not warrant the use of special powers, because the Government is already coping with the situation, adding that he regrets that some groups have been politicizing the coronavirus issue.


The most important thing now, said the Prime Minister, is to take good care of the public in Thailand, as he dismissed allegations that the Government has been hiding the truth about the number of confirmed cases in the country.


He also dismissed, as groundless, reports that face masks are being overpriced by profiteers, adding that the Government has started distributing free face masks to some people. He added, however, that those who can afford the face masks should buy them.

• PM points to panic caused by fake news as worst aspect of virus crisis – Thai PBS World