February 2, 2020 @ 12:02amIN the wake of the global Wuhan coronavirus outbreak, the authorities are increasingly concerned about the dangers of medical hoaxes.
Over the past two weeks, much unverified information on the virus has been shared on social media, stirring public discussion and causing panic. There is a difference between misinformation and disinformation in the scholarly context. Disinformation is an attempt to confuse or manipulate people by giving them false information. It is often accompanied by parallel and intersecting communication strategies and tactics, including hacking or impersonating credible individuals.
I sought the opinion of a couple of medical professionals on how the government and we, as society, should respond to the outbreak.crisis. The public should get information from legitimate sources, such as the Health Ministry or professional news agencies.