Govt cancels order on media monitoring over coronavirus rumours

The government has rolled back an order on monitoring of the coverage of the coronavirus outbreak by the media.

The information ministry in the order dated Wednesday said it had assigned 15 officers to monitor 30 private television channels in an effort to curb rumours and fake news about the disease.

The coverage of the outbreak by online publishers would also come under the surveillance, it added.

However, the ministry cancelled the order in a new one saying the previous order had “errors,” reports bdnews24.

It has formed a cell to see whether rumours or disinformation are being disseminated on “social media”, according to the new order.