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Riau Police arrest woman for allegedly spreading fake news on earthquake
Police said the fake news had sparked public uproar.
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Fake news, hoaxes and misinformation are difficult to deal with, but there are ways to spot and fight them. (Shutterstock/Panchenko Vladimir)
T
he Riau Police have arrested a woman identified as MA, who lives in Marpoyan Damai district in Pekanbaru, for allegedly spreading fake news about the potential for a powerful earthquake on social media.
Detective chief Sr. Comr. Gidion Arif Setyawan said on Thursday that MA had shared fake news that an 8.6-magnitude quake was expected to hit Java on her Facebook page on Sept. 25, Sept. 29 and Oct. 2.
“The earth is becoming weaker as it supports the continuously developed buildings and infrastructure. As a consequence, natural disasters keep hitting the planet. Doomsday is approaching,” said MA in one of her posts, adding that the recent earthquakes that jolted different regions in the country were reminders from God.
“Please repent and ask for God’s forgiveness, you the traitors of the state,” she went on to say without naming names.
Gidion said MA’s Facebook status had sparked public uproar, prompting the police to take legal action against her.
“It is inappropriate to spread hoaxes about natural disasters amid grief [following the West Nusa Tenggara and Central Sulawesi earthquakes]. It’s like trying to rub salt into the victims’ wounds,” he said. (vny/swd)
