Swine flu 'spreads' in social media

With rumours flying thick and fast regarding the re-emergence of swine flu in Bahrain, frightened citizens and residents flocked health centres to get vaccinated against the disease.

Despite the official statements to the contrary, social media networks were in a tizzy with scary stories about the spread of swine flu. It has been officially recognised that social media networks had a big role in spreading fears among the public.

This motivated the state to pay more efforts to curb the quick spread of false news on online platforms, by intensifying cooperation between government authorities to deliver the truth to the public.

Speaking in a press conference that followed the weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday, Information Affairs and Shura Council and Parliament Affairs Minister and the Official Government Spokesperson Isa bin Abdulrahman Al Hammadi said, “The power of social media sites has been locally and globally recognised. Therefore, there’s an urgent need to educate people on the appropriate use of it.”

“We can’t demand the public to cease using them to communicate. In fact, we are pushing government entities to improve interaction with the public through social media websites, even before publishing official statement in the local press,” the minister said, underlining the significance of social media networks nowadays.

He also mentioned that “when rumours appeared on the spread of swine flu in Bahrain recently, Health and Information Affairs Ministries posted on their social media pages that the matter would be discussed in an extraordinary TV show on the same night.”

“Such procedures are needed to combat the rumours swarming social media networks and deceiving the public,” Mr Al Hammadi commented, adding that the country has set certain regulations that criminalise online illegal activities such as insults.