“By decision of the chairman of the IC of Russia, Alexander Bastrykin, the agency created a working group to prevent the spread of false information about the situation with coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in Russia among the population,” the official spokeswoman for the department, Svetlana Petrenko, said.
The work of the working group will be aimed at identifying unverified and knowingly false information about coronavirus in Russia on the Internet and instant messengers and at preventing its spread.
“In accordance with the current legislation, a criminal legal assessment will be given to such facts,” the UK emphasized.
Earlier, Pavel Krasheninnikov, chairman of the State Duma committee on state building and legislation, said that the Criminal Code of Russia would be amended to punish fakes in connection with coronavirus.
On March 23, a pre-investigation check was launched in Moscow in connection with the dissemination of false information about the number of cases of COVID-19 in Russia.