Government of Timor-Leste

Dili, March 22^nd, 2021 (PRS) – the Vice Minister of Interior (VMI), António Armindo, received a short visit from the Secretary of State for Social Communication (SECOMS), Merício Juvinal dos Reis “Akara”, to analyse possibilities of working in support of the eradication of false information, under COVID-19, which are currently expanding rapidly in our country.

“Today, the two of us, the Vice Minister of Interior and me, talked about how we can collaborate mutually to identify false information and rumours in the media, and we discussed a little about strategies to combat false information, in the context of COVID-19,” said Merício Juvinal dos Reis “Akara”, this Monday, after finishing the meeting with the  Vice Minister, at the Ministry of Interior, in Vila Verde.

Merício “Akara” explained that SECOMS intended to develop a good strategy, because many people are disseminating false information and trying to make the public suspicious of the information provided by the Government.

“The public panics about this false information, and then demonstrates against the Government, based on this information. This creates disagreements and disputes arise between us, because we do not trust each other. Therefore, I did not just come here to talk to the Vice Minister of Interior, but I also intend to talk with other relevant ministries, to make every effort to combat this false information. This is everyone’s job. We will also talk to the media to help prepare our citizens to use online platforms well, with appropriate goals and with responsibility”, SECOMS said.

For his part, the Vice Minister of Interior, António Armindo, said he will coordinate with the PNTL, to analyse this situation.

We all known that false information is a major threat, especially in this context of COVID-19, because there is always someone to take advantage of to disseminate this type of information. For this reason, coordination is very important, and on the part of the Ministry of Interior we are ready to work with the PNTL to identify who publishes it and prevent false information from spreading in the community”, stressed the Vice Minister,  António Armindo.

At the same occasion, VMI asked the entire community, starting with students, young people and even the public in general, to rely only on credible sources, that is, information that comes from institutions that have the authority to give this information. For example, who has the authority to provide information related to COVID-19 is  the Ministry of Health. He also called to the community not to share false information to prevent others from being misled.

The Vice Minister, António Armindo, also expressed his appreciation to SECOMS for the strong commitment together with all entities to eradicate false information.