GEORGE TOWN – The tourism sector, already taking a huge hit from the Covid-19 pandemic, is also facing the threat of fake news on the virus, said an industry player.
Penang Global Tourism chief executive Ooi Chok Yan urged owners of social media accounts spreading false information to realise that their actions ruin lives and livelihood.
“The threat from the pandemic to tourism is serious enough. Every day, we hear accounts of travel trade members struggling. Lives can be scattered.”
Fake news, such as exaggerated infection numbers in tourist spots, undermines the national economy, to which tourism is a major contributor, he said.
Former National Tourism Council vice-chairman Eric R. Sinnaya suggested that the authorities amend the laws to provide for punitive measures against those peddling fake news.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow has confirmed that a member of the media here has undergone a swab test after being identified by the authorities as a close contact of a coronavirus patient.
The reporter, who was present at Chow’s presser at Komtar on Wednesday, has been told to undergo quarantine. – The Vibes, October 30, 2020
