Covid-19: Experts to discuss threat caused by fake news during pandemics
A group of communication professionals, including Senior Presidential Press Secretary, Don Wanyama, Ministry of Health spokesperson Emmanuel Ayinebyoona and the head of Journalism and communication at Makerere University, Dr William Tayebwa among others, will dissect the threat caused by fake news during a pandemic.
The panelists will be joined by seasoned journalist Andrew Mwenda and Dr. Richard Kabanda, the acting Commissioner Health Services in charge of health education, promotion and communication in the Ministry of Health.
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According to the Ministry of ICT and Information Permanent Secretary, Vincent Bangiire, crises by nature create the need to collect and interpret information but on many occasions, people especially using social media use the opportunity for their own selfish interests to misinform the public.
“This need and associated vacuum that may occur have provided fertile ground for emergence of misinformation and disinformation. Through the webinar session, we will feature discussions on how to combat this trend as well as debunk myths and misinformation around Covid-19 while educating the general public on the threat of Fake News and how best to protect oneself from it through media and information literacy,”Bagiire said.
The discussion will be part of the program by the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance and the Ministry of Health in collaboration with Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in a bid to help demystify popular myths among members of the public about Coronavirus.
The webinar session hosted by the Government Citizen Interaction Centre, under the Ministry of ICT will be held on Saturday June,6, 2020 from 4:00-5:30pm and broadcast live on the national broadcaster- UBC and online platforms.
The webinar session will be held under the theme “The Threat of Fake News and Misinformation During a Pandemic”.
