Academics and jurists have warned against circulating rumors on social media platforms, because they have more harm to society than the spread of the Corona epidemic, pointing out that the law is punished with temporary imprisonment and a fine of one million dirhams, whoever publishes information, news, data, or Rumors on a website, or any information network, or information technology device, with the intention of ridicule or harming the reputation, prestige, or standing of the country, or any of its institutions.

Various groups of society, including: legal, psychological and social specialists, academics, employees, and university students, agreed that rumors via the Internet are gaining momentum due to several main factors, the most important of which are: the speed and breadth of the spread across social networks, and the ease of ignoring the source of the rumor and who is behind Launching them, especially with the proliferation of fake accounts on social media, and the availability of techniques to fake pictures and videos, to give false credibility to the content of the rumor that helps spread it, in addition to the ignorance of most of the recipients of the truth, and the absence of specialized centers to monitor and combat rumors in times of crisis. To me that false news and rumors take many forms, including fabricated content aimed at deception and harm, forged content impersonating real sources, and misleading content that uses information in a misleading manner to achieve a malicious purpose, through tampering with content, in addition to cynicism or ridicule that may cause, as well , In misinformation.

Academic and Vice Chancellor of the University, Dr. Samira Al-Nuaimi, attributed the spread of rumors through social media to the issue of retransmission, without looking or thinking about the content, noting that despite the existence of a societal maturity that results from the state's efforts in education and awareness, and the official authorities to announce the information All clearly and transparently, some are driven behind the appeal of social media, and re-publish photos, information and messages without ensuring their authenticity.

She said: “It is important to deal with wisdom and investigate sources of information with the file (the new Corona virus), and to follow developments and follow instructions and instructions from official channels, in order not to help spread rumors that affect society and the economy, especially as the state is fully prepared, and has an integrated strategy for dealing With emergency situations, there are also official channels and free numbers for the question and inquiries, such as the accounts of the Ministry of Health and Community Protection, the Health Department in Abu Dhabi, the Health Authority in Dubai, and the Abu Dhabi Center for Public Health, on social media, providing all the necessary information and guidance ».

Al-Naimi added: “Communities, by joining together with their awareness, adhering to the directives of the competent authorities, neglecting prejudiced rumors, can bypass any challenge or distress with all calm and less losses, and eliminate rumors that start from the individual himself by not circulating or resending them, as well as intensifying awareness campaigns in society with the danger of circulating Anonymous information, and whoever wants to contribute to spreading the awareness must be from an official source, and it includes a link to the information on the website or account of the responsible party, in order to be able to verify its authenticity, since the public is not authorized to publish information, and the competent authorities are responsible for that, and the law Hold offenders accountable It is good to exploit leisure exercise hobbies and reading quiet and useful and enriching times family with everything that is useful, rather than follow-up news is inaccurate or biased ».

Meanwhile, Professor of Political Science, Dr. Nasr Aref, affirmed that satellite channels have become more harsh on societies than social media rumors, noting that all the broadcasts and programs in the TV channels start with an event about the new Corona virus, and the news tape is all devoted to "Corona", where Any injury monitored is declared in any country, although any country has daily death numbers, not injuries, due to road accidents, heart disease or cancer, more than tens of times the number of corona injuries.

He said: «We do not underestimate the new Corona virus, but the amplification and spreading terror among members of society are dire results», pointing out that «rumors are easy to eliminate through smart applications, where any wrong information that is monitored on social media applications must be withheld .

He added: "There is a very severe chaos in the whole world, which has brought about complete paralysis, and a state of terror that will lead to more complications. The solution is to monitor, track and eliminate these rumors, even if it comes to stopping certain applications, because the matter has reached to target countries and spread rumors about them." .

While a family medicine specialist at the Ministry of Health and Community Protection, Dr. Adel Al-Sajwani confirmed that a large part of the individual’s patriotism and his love for his country appear in his taking of the information from the specialists, not to publish false information and obtain the correct information from the official sources in the United Arab Emirates, pointing to The percentage of deaths from the Corona virus does not exceed 3%, and thus the panic that some people live and others try to export to people is unjustified, but caution is in order to prevent the spread of the virus and besiege it, so it is necessary not to be drawn into the rumors of social networking sites.

For his part, Professor Saif Rashid Al Jabri, Canadian Professor of Culture and Society at the Canadian University of Dubai said, “Societies are afflicted with various epidemics and diseases throughout the ages, some people survive and some receive their Lord, according to what is destined for every person. Throughout history, nations have passed through diseases, wars, Epidemics, and other dangers, have ended. This year of life, something begins and disappears after a while. ”

Al-Jabri added: «What we are in today from the emergence of the new Corona virus, confirms that rumors are more dangerous than epidemics to societies, as this virus did not spread as a disease as much as rumors and delusion spread about it, so people became ill with illusion and not the virus, what sowed fear inside them and this is due to the distribution Rumors and spreading quotes through social media, as they have become the talk of all councils in society. ”

He cautioned against trading anything between the public and non-specialists without knowledge or understanding, so people should not spread calamities and fear, pointing to the spread of social networking programs between people and their control over their lives, where they spend most of their time, and now they only talk about Corona and Corona news without Knowledge or understanding, and in a few hours the message reaches hundreds of thousands of people, everyone receives and sends back without checking the veracity of the written speech.

He stressed the importance of leaving this matter and taking care of our business and personal and family matters, following up the accounts of the official authorities responsible for managing this file only, and taking natural precautions to preserve our safety, advising the public not to contribute to circulating and promoting rumors, and spreading fear and anxiety among members of society.

Whereas, psychological and social specialists identified: Ahmed Al-Sayed, Alaa Abdullah, Nora Hassan and Kholoud Hamdi, five reasons that push individuals to re-publish the content of the rumor, including the feeling of panic and anxiety that drives the recipient to re-publish the rumor, and personal engagement, in the event that the rumor is promoted as a personal experience or An eye-witness, and the ambiguity of the content and its attribution to important official sources, where people tend to believe what is attributed to the personalities and responsible authorities more than their interest in thinking about the content itself, in addition to attraction by providing the rumor with pictures or video alongside the texts.

They warned that social media has become "magnifiers of rumors", which contribute greatly to maximizing the scope of these lies, as social media users contribute by re-circulating the rumor on more than one platform, along with some social media celebrities who recycle rumors, for several reasons due Some of them lack the skills of auditing, or the desire to distribute, in addition to electronic news sites that are not licensed or issued from outside the country, and that contribute to misleading to gain more visits to their sites.

Meanwhile, the legal advisor, Mansour Al-Mazmi, stressed that the amplification of the seriousness of the new Corona virus in the country, and the publication of undocumented information and unofficial sources affect the economy, tourism, and the degree of safety and security in the community, as it results in spreading fear among people, noting that « Spreading rumors for the purpose of stirring fear or panic is criminal, and recurring rumors is a participation in publishing them, as Article 198 bis of the Federal Penal Code stipulates that he shall be punished by imprisonment for a period of no less than a year from broadcasting false, malicious or false news, statements or rumors. Exciting advertisements, if that would disturb security For a year, throwing terror among people, or damaging the public interest. ”

In turn, the legal advisor, Salem Saeed Al-Haiqi, pointed out that the spread of rumors through social media, which constitute a wide space in which many throw their toxins, through the circulation and publication of news, thinking that some are the first owners, and some deliberately spread or distort the news despite their full knowledge that it is Incorrect, which may be the cause of the spread of a state of panic, fear and terror among people, prompted the UAE legislator to tighten the penalty in Federal Law No. 5 of 2012, regarding combating information technology crimes, where Article 29 of the same law stipulated that “it is punishable by temporary imprisonment And the fine that does not exceed Leon AED both to disseminate information or news, statements or rumors on a website or any information network or a technical information with a view to ridicule or harm the reputation or prestige or status of the state or any of its institutions ».

Al-Hayqi stressed the importance of educating the community about the danger of spreading or circulating rumors, as the law does not tolerate punishing every person who committed any crime with all the laws in force in the state, especially as the official authorities are concerned with spreading news that relates to society through its platforms, and the UAE legislator has issued the federal law No. 14 of 2014, on combating communicable diseases, and gave the Minister of Health and departments that specialize in health affairs the powers necessary to maintain public health in the country.

The counselor described the promoter as a popular promoter with a poisoned person, who writes like a chameleon, and exudes toxins in society, with the intention of harming the country and the people, and provoking turmoil and chaos, pointing out that the UAE legislator has tightened the penalty for spreading rumors, as Article 198 bis of the Federal Penal Code No. 3 of 1987, Anyone who intentionally broadcasts false news, data, or rumors, also whoever possesses himself, or through mediation, or has obtained documents, publications, or records of any kind, includes any news that is punishable by imprisonment for a period of no less than a year. False statements or rumors, if T prepared for distribution or to inform them of others ».

He continued: “The Emirati legislator surrounded all aspects of the crime, in order to maintain public security and public tranquility in the country. The punishment was increased by imprisonment for a period of no less than three years and not more than 15 years, if the perpetrator was an employee, and one of his duties in particular is to protect society or "Associating the crime with the places where a large group of people consider it a felony."

Rumor Center

Lawyers, psychologists and sociologists, and academics have proposed the creation of centers to monitor and combat misleading and fake information, adopting new and innovative ways to confront, keeping pace with the development of tools for creating rumors and spreading them, by making use of artificial intelligence applications, which rely on advanced algorithms to analyze information and monitor fake news Immediately and automatically, digital tracking after monitoring the rumor and tracking its spread, tracking its source, trapping rumors and preventing their circulation by providing the public at the right time with the correct information, through various media channels and social media platforms, and To e-mail, telephone messages, as well as traditional media, as well as the adoption of community-based strategy of confrontation, through the same user integration in the face of rumors, by spreading awareness among users, and urged them to report suspicious content.

Formal warnings

The Ministry of the Interior warned members of the public against circulating rumors, or any information that was not issued by the official authorities, regarding the "emerging corona" virus, calling for the necessity of investigating accuracy and following the preventive measures issued by the Ministry of Health, Community Protection and Health Authorities, and confirmed that it is stepping up its procedures to prosecute Promoters of rumors about Corona virus cases inside the country, and bringing them to justice, warning individuals against being subject to legal accountability, if they participate in the promotion of these rumors.

While the Department of Health in Abu Dhabi called on the public not to circulate rumors, and to verify the credibility of the source, and stressed that the health authorities in the state put the health and safety of all members of society at the top of their priorities, and take all possible measures, to reduce the spread of the new Corona virus, and educate the community about developments Health status continuously, and whenever needed.

The Emirates Bar and Legal Association has warned of the danger of producing and spreading rumors that threaten the security and stability of society. The association stressed the importance of spreading awareness messages and enhancing legal awareness of the danger of spreading rumors.