JEDDAH: Modern technology such as the Internet and mobile phones has contributed significantly to the spread of rumors.
E-mails, online forums and text messaging have become a hotbed for the spread of rumors in Saudi Arabia, especially with the absence of a monitoring system.
In the past couple of weeks, e-mails, online forums and SMS text messages have circulated between people to warn them about some alleged dangers.
For example, one SMS said Musk Lake was going to burst and flood the city. Another said rain would strike Jeddah again and cause more damage than before.
Although the Civil Defense has warned residents in Jeddah’s Al-Samr 3 district to evacuate their homes back during the Nov. 25 flash floods, fearing that the dam might burst, the warning caused panic among residents elsewhere in the city.
Hana Al-Turki, a 28-year-old mother of three who lives with her family in Al-Safa district, packed her stuff after she heard rumors about her area being flooded by Musk Lake.
“I left my house for one day and I decided to come back after they confirmed it was only a rumor. I received about eight messages that the lake is going to explode any moment and that we have to evacuate,” she said.
Just a few weeks before the floods and Musk Lake tales circulated, another wave of rumors that H1N1 vaccines destroy the immune system and reduce fertility rates by 80 percent hit Jeddah, causing panic.
Parents were being advised not to allow their children to take the vaccine. E-mails and messages said that the vaccine is part of conspiracy theories lending weight to the claim that swine flu is man-made.
Blogs and other online forums have also contributed to the spread of false information because of the absence of monitoring by the Ministry of Information.
The ministry until now has not set any guidelines regarding what can be published online or how accurate the news should be.
The increase in online forums, blogs and e-newspapers without having some kind of regulatory system allowed people to post and publish whatever they wanted.
Two weeks ago, gory images of human remains was circulated among people in Al-Jouf through online forums and multimedia messages, causing confusion and concern among people in the region whether the bodies were the result of wolf attacks in areas near Jouf and Sakaka.
People stopped going out of their houses or let their children out to play.
Police conducted an investigation that revealed the photos were altered to make it appear as though the bodies were found in the area. Deputy Minister of Culture and Information Abdul Rahman Al-Hazaa called on online newspapers and forums to seek integrity and the truth when publishing a story.
“Nothing can be done to curb the spread of rumors except the concerned authority coming out and speaking,” he said. “We will stand up against any false rumors. We are still studying the process of monitoring online information.”
Samar Abdul Malik, Elaf online newspaper managing editor, said it is a fact that there are rumors abound in the virtual world just as in paper-based journalism.
“It’s not difficult for any journalist to check the accuracy of information by all means possible such as contacting more than one source to confirm the accuracy of the information given,” she said. “It is also known the extent to which readers believe rumors varies.”
Although telecom companies cannot control what is being sent through text messages, authorities can.
Two years ago, the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau thought it would be best to announce that people using SMS messaging to spread false information would go to jail and stay there for at least five years.
The edict came after a rumor spread warning people not to eat pork because it may contain a virus that would cause encephalitis. This led to the introduction of the law.
