According to the Decision no.1 of 01.04.2021 of the Commission for Emergency Situations of the Republic of Moldova, SIS requests to block the website ro.portal-news-24h.xyz, which was identified as an online source that spreads fake news about the COVID-19 evolution, as well as prevention and protection measures.
The source published fake news about the “decisions” adopted by the authorities of the Republic of Moldova whereby “Moldova gave up mandatory mask-wearing starting April 15” and “restaurants and shops open at 100% capacity”. In fact, authorities of the Republic of Moldova have not adopted such decisions yet. The content of the article was taken from news, dating back to March 2021, regarding the announcement of the Texas authorities. The text was partially adapted.
At the same time, the mentioned website shared other fake news that are not related to COVID-19 topic.
In this context, SIS reiterates the importance of being informed and/or comparing news to official sources. In order to get accurate information on national anti-epidemic measures, visit the official website of the Government.
An analysis of the fake-news network (ro.portal-news-24h.xyz – one of its component) indicated that the Facebook account “Dumitru Julavschi" in one of the main elements involved in spreading fake news on these sources.
Moreover, popular Facebook groups are used to promote “fake news” by means of multiple fake accounts.