False rumors,lies, speculations about Prime Minister O'Neill spreading like wildfire
Police Media Unit Director chief superintendent Dominic Kakas said there have been wild speculations and false rumors spreading lately regarding the Prime Minister and the Paul Paraka saga.
The issue of the warrant of arrest of the PM last month has also triggered an alarming rate of public emails and SMS messages. While the public were eager and keen to know what is happing on the political front –false rumours and SMS scams and emails have been a hotline lately including social media.
“ I call upon eveyone to refrain from sending, forwarding emails or text messages on this subject without confirming with the relevant authorities, especially,” chief supt Kakas said.
This week a SMS that was forwarded around the country read that the Prime Minister was punched by Mr Paraka. Post Courier had callers from Lae, Madang and Mt Hagen confirming if this text was true. “These emails and SMS are causing unnecessary fear and anxiety in the public.
“ Each of us have a responsibility to confirm for ourselves the truth/accuracy of the information we receive. “ We have an equally more important responsibility to ensure that such unconfirmed rumours are not passed onto other people.”
Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Jim Miringtoro, has called on members of the public to be aware of scams, lies and other misleading information appearing on some social media sites.
He said that while there are credible commentators and some interesting debate on social media, there are also a number of desperate radical activists who seek to cause public distress.
The internet and social media has enriched our society and created access to a wealth of information. However, some social media sites have become places where radicals try to spread lies, cause distress and harm reputations.
“I hope all Papua New Guineans will be cautious when they read SMS messages, posts, tweets, blog entries and other information that seems suspicious,” Mr Miringtoro said.
He said Papua New Guineans should check where the information came from and it is not from a credible source such as a news organization or known person, treat it with a grain of salt.
“The radical activist bloggers are not published in main stream news because they lack credibility so they resort to social media ranting,” he said.
PNG Today/ Post Courier
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