Kathmandu, March 28
People are feeling suffocated because of lockdown. We don’t know the exact date of when this lockdown will end. People are relying on social media for their entertainment. Curiosity among people has led to corona-virus being a hot topic on the internet. If you search “Corona-virus” in any search engine you can find different results pop up. WHO and other authorized agencies has been updating recent news on the internet. There are some websites that are spreading misleading information. This has created panic among the viewers.
The Nepal government is fighting to stop not only the spread of the virus but also the spread of fake news. Discerning genuine information among all the prevarications on the internet is not easy. The Nepal government requests the citizens to circulate information by an authorized source. It has become a moral responsibility of a user to verify the source before sharing.
Viber community “MoHP Nepal COVID-19”
The Ministry of Health and Population and Health Emergency Center has launched an official Viber community “MoHP Nepal COVID-19”. This community provides steady updates on COVID-19 of Nepal. Viber is an international instant messaging software application. It is a wise approach. The reach that this community can make is enormous. Currently, there are 128,000 members who have joined this community. The number of members is increasing. This community group provides us with information about symptoms & preventive measures against corona-virus.
“COVID-19 Awareness Nepal”
People belonging to the IT community have taken initiative against fake news. To stop misleading information Hamro Patro has also initiated “COVID-19 Awareness Nepal”. It is a public community. This community has specialized information in the context of Nepal. Anyone can post on the feed but it has a well-organized feed with particular tags to specify the context of the post. The community members use #symptoms,#protection, #StayInformed,#StopUnverifiedInfo,#SpreadAwareness,#ProvideSource, #SayNoToFakeNews, #Admin tags