Government condemns abuse of social media
By Hosea Banda…….
The Government of Malawi has condemned social media for spreading false information aimed at injuring some innocent people and institutions.
In a statement released on July 8,2024 and signed by Minister of Information and Digitalisation, Moses Kunkuyu Kalongashawa says the government has noted with concern with increase of incidences pedding of fake news, especially on social media.
“The government has noted with concern the increasing incidences of peddling of fake news especially on social media. This has seen unscrupulous people creating fake news, fake pages, altering publications and pages among others.”
The statement further says some people recently shared a false article on social media that the Government is unhappy with catholic Bishops for not taking part in the Independence anniversary National service of worship on July 6,2024 at Bingu International Convention Center (BICC)
The individuals who posted this false information gave the impression that the false article was published by Malawi News Agency (MANA).
“A recent case in point is a false article that has been shared on social media purporting that the Government is unhappy with catholic Bishops for apparently not participating in the Independence Anniversary National service of worship that was held on Saturday, July 6,2024 at BICC in Lilongwe.
It is even more disheartening that individuals peddling this false information gave an impression as if this false article was published by the official Malawi News Agency (MANA).”
The statement added that the article was false and that catholic Bishops fully participated in the National service through the President of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi, Archbishop George Tambala, Bishop Peter Musikwa of Chikwawa Diocese, and St Patrick’s Choir 1.
The government has called on all Malawians for unity and patriotism as they continue to celebrate 60 years of the country’s independence.
