In his daily press conference, Defence Minister, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, emphasised that action will be taken against those who spread misleading and fake news. However, it seems that these irresponsible people haven’t learned their lesson. The latest victim of fake news this time around is none other than Health Director-General, Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
In a tweet, the Health DG called-out a fake Whatsapp forward of his “resignation” after a staggering number of Covid-19 cases daily.
This is another fake news and misleading the public. pic.twitter.com/0vAoR5zydj
— Noor Hisham Abdullah (@DGHisham) February 3, 2021
Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia (KKM) later tweeted the whole article from a blog, Malaysia Flip Flop, and requested the public to not share news unless they’re really sure it’s accurate.
In the post by Malaysia Flip Flop, they mentioned that the daily Covid-19 figures are backlogged from last year. They added that the actual figure is less than 100 cases daily since the start of January 2021.
“The reason behind this is the Prime Minister and two ministers are keen to continue the rise to justify running the nation. They want to continue staying in their position.”
The post also asked Malaysians to use their common sense as to question how come pasar malams are allowed to operate from 4pm to 10pm and kindergartens are still allowed to operate while the rest of services are under MCO.
They even said that after the announcement, the (unspecified) minister went to his penthouse to have a celebration where all 13 of them were neither practising physical distancing nor were they wearing masks.
Fake news is a disease that needs to be eradicated ASAP! Thus, let’s all do our part by verifying the validity of any news that comes our way.
Also read: Fake News! JPJ Debunks Claims That Legitimate Licences Can Be Bought Without Taking Tests