Thursday, April 25, 2024
Information Minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud on Tuesday said that spreading rumours or propaganda on any issue including coronavirus is a criminal offence.
“The government will continue taking legal action against those who spread rumours and propaganda to protect public interest,” he said.
The minister came up with the remarks while speaking as the chief guest at the inaugural event of 100-bed Covid-19 unit at USTC Bangabandhu Memorial Hospital in Chittagong in a video conference from his office at the Secretariat in the capital.
“At the beginning of the corona crisis, there was a shortage of ventilation units all over the world. That’s why priority was given to the treatment of young people than the aged ones with ventilation units in the countries of America and Europe,” he said.
“Demonstrations for PPEs were held in front of the White House and different states. There was a crisis of masks in Canada and various countries in Europe. There has been no such crisis in our country. Instead, two days ago, Nigeria sent a plane to take medicine, PPE and other medical supplies from Bangladesh. We have also sent all these equipment to the Maldives,” said Hasan.
In spite of these, rumours and propaganda are often seen on social media and the internet he said adding that "Spreading rumours, panic or propaganda about anything including coronavirus is a criminal offence."
Action has already been taken against such crimes and the government will take action in the future, added the Minister.
