FROM East to West, you name it social media, interactive comp utermediated technologies that facilitate the creation or sharing of information, ideas, career interests and other forms of expression via virtual communities and networks will be there to serve us, not to instill fear and cause disharmony in society.
Of late there have been cases where some individuals and groups of people resort to the same social media to circulate unsubstantiated information, whose motive at the end of the day is to slur and cause fear in society.
This is a criminal offence that is punishable in any country.
There have been rumours, gossip s and fake news with detrimental motives about coronavirus disease that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared pandemic, because it is the only reputable body authorised to track and advice on any disease globally, not individuals acting on hearsay.
The public should be aware that it is only the government through its authorised ministry allowed to inform, and advise the citizens on occurrence and management of any disease, because it has experts and machineries to do so.
Equally, it should be remembered that the government has a spokesperson to inform and clarify any information to the public, not anyone else.
Those who usurp the government’s powers via the social media to share unfounded and baseless information should know that such rumours (with no reliable source to back it up ) have destructive consequences, which include creation of conflict, victimisation, and decrease in production and morale of citizens to g o about their businesses freely.
It should be known that any rumour repeated several times will have the same weight as noble truth and confuse the public, hence, should never be allowed to continue.
If allowed to continue may be a surprising situation that would be difficult to differentiate in public between the rumor and gossip from truth and as a result, push some people to g ive more weight to what they see in their social media feed than what they get from more credible news sources.
Rumours if not check ed according to Psychologists can also lead to dep ression, suicidal thoughts, eating disorders, anxiety, and a host of other issues.
It can also alienate friends, ruin rep utations, and even lead to ostracizing behavior.
Along the same line, the Minister for Information, Culture, Arts and Sports, Dr Harrison Mwakyembe has repeatedly pointed out that social media platforms should not be used alarmingly to compromise Tanzanian values and traditions.
Hence, users of social media should know that there are regulations to curb hate speech, vulgar language, and nude photos, which are inappropriate for children.
