Iranian cyber police arrested 24 people accused of spreading rumors online and inciting panic about the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus currently sweeping through the country.
The Iranian police force formed a special unit to “combat rumor-mongers regarding the ‘spread of coronavirus in the country,’” said Vahid Majid, head of the Iranian police force’s cyber unit, according to the Times of Israel.
Now, Majid said, the police force is monitoring online activity in Iran regarding the coronavirus, which has infected at least 139 people and killed 19.
Majid added that the force is prepared to take action against anyone who spreads rumors in online forums and social media.
Cases of coronavirus infection in Iran continue to rise. Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi revealed on Tuesday that he had contracted the virus. The virus has since spread to six continents total, having recently been detected in Brazil, the first South American country to be affected.
As a result of the swelling number of cases worldwide, as well as social media posts that spread rumors or false information, Facebook has pledged to crack down on posts from users who promise cures for the coronavirus.
“In the weeks after the World Health Organization’s declared a public health emergency, Facebook is working to support their work in multiple ways, including taking steps to stop ads for products that refer to the coronavirus and create a sense of urgency, like implying a limited supply, or guaranteeing a cure or prevention,” a Facebook spokesperson told ABC News.
Google has also added a series of links to World Health Organization safety tips on pages showing search results for the coronavirus. Twitter, for its part, will remove users who attempt to spread misinformation about the coronavirus online.
Health authorities in the United States have also announced that further spread of the coronavirus is inevitable. Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said Tuesday that “disruption to everyday life might be severe.”
“We can have community spread in the United States and have it be reasonably mild, and we can have community spread in the U.S. and have it be very severe,” she said. “That is what we don’t completely know yet, and we certainly also don’t exactly know when it’s going to happen.”
The total number of coronavirus cases has now surpassed 80,900 worldwide, and nearly 3,000 people have died.
