Be responsible with information

The National Letters

LET us be vigilant of the rise in disinformation particularly on social media.
What is disinformation?
It is false information which is intended to mislead people for a certain interest. Two key steps to validate what you read:

  • CHECK who is posting the information;
  • IN most cases, if it is disinformation, you will find that it is posted on a fake account. You can easily assess if it is a fake account if you cannot see much “personal activity” on the poster’s account;
  • ASSESS the post claims against evidence presented; and,
  • IN most cases, if it is disinformation, the poster will not put any supporting evidence, with most being anecdotal.

If the poster does, then it would be useful to check if the sources are credible.
If you cannot validate, then do not share.
Do not be a contributor to spreading disinformation to others.
You may not realise the negative impact you are having on our society.
At a time where information is available everywhere and people are more connected, it is more than ever important to assess properly what you are reading before you form your opinion.
I encourage our Government agencies to be more active on their social media accounts.
When they do so, our people can have better insights as to the work that the Government is or is not doing.
I am asking PNG-operated social media group administrators to be more proactive in what they allow to be posted within a group.
Please, let us be a bit more responsible for the sake of our citizens.

Steven Matainaho,
Secretary,
Department of Information and
Communications Technology