The Minister of Homeland Security and Technology, Ali Ihsaan, has urged the public to verify the truth of any information before disseminating it. The Minister made this appeal during a speech delivered as part of the “No Cap Just Facts” campaign, organized by students of the Bachelor of Arts in Media and Public Relations at The Maldives National University. Minister Ali Ihsaan noted that in this era, it takes only a short time to spread false information, and often the damage caused by it is significant. He also highlighted the many difficulties faced in revealing the truth behind false information. The Minister stated that spreading false information can sometimes even defame innocent people.
The Minister said that providing truthful information should be everyone’s responsibility. He also added that if false information is being spread, then a decision must be made regarding legal actions to address the issue. In his speech, the Minister pointed out that people should reflect on whether it is the right approach to use fake accounts to express opinions they are unwilling to share from their own social media accounts.
“We need to incorporate the aspect of upbringing (tarbiyyah) that comes with education, either within our curriculum or through other avenues. The upbringing we refer to must be on par with education. If someone achieves 8 passes in O’Levels but does not know how to respect others, then those passes are useless. The ninth pass has somehow fallen behind. We must teach the current generation ways to protect themselves from spreading false information,” said Minister Ali Ihsaan.
In the forum organized by the students of Media and Public Relations at the National University to explain how to verify the truthfulness of information received through social media, the difference between unknowingly spread false information and intentionally spread false information was clarified, along with methods to identify such information. More than 100 people, including students from various schools in Malé and different courses at MNU, participated in the forum where information was provided by experts in the field. Among the panelists were journalist Ibrahim Maahil Mohamed; Ahmed Afru Rasheed, who has worked in media for many years and holds higher education in the field; Aishath Adnan, co-founder of Women in Tech; and Aishath Isha, an expert in the legal field.
During the one-hour forum, important information was shared regarding tools to identify true and false information, and crucial knowledge that is essential in this era of advancing AI. This campaign was conducted to raise awareness among school-leaving students and those studying in colleges/universities to reduce the spread of false information.
