A special task force will be created in Romania to respond to fake news circulated in the public sphere related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Economy Ministry and large retailers in Romania will help create a task force that will respond to fake news circulated in in the public sphere, Economy Minister Florin Spătaru has told Radio Romania:
„We’ve also discussed with the Association of Large Retailers. They don’t want measures to restrict or infringe on certain rights, or stir an emotional response. For this reason, together with large retailers, we will be signing a protocol to create this task force, in order to provide us with the appropriate information so we can all respond to such fake news that clearly affect our lives”.
Since the outbreak of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, the Romanian public sphere has been flooded with false information spreading panic. In early March people rushed to get foreign currency, after news on social media reported a false collapse of the national currency. Then a rumor regarding an alarming increase in fuel prices prompted people to stand in long queues at filling stations, a rare sight in Romania in the last few decades. Then, right as things cooled down, a new piece of fake news alleged cooking oil would soon disappear from market shelves, which made people take stores by storm. Government officials were forced to dismiss the fake news and urge the population to remain calm, saying Romania has sufficient stocks of cooking oil, as well as foodstuffs and non-perishable goods in general. This week, Environment Minister Tánczos Barna said a number of issues affecting air quality in Romania have been identified as possibly being linked to the developments in Ukraine, where the Russian army is shelling large cities. Additionally, the territorial waters of Romania are being probed for mines after the Maritime Directorate warned that a military ship was sighted off the northwest coast. Here is Romanian Naval Forces commander Corneliu Pavel with more details:
„So far, we have not identified mines in our patrol area, nor have we received any information from commercial watercraft in this respect. In the event we get such reports, the Naval Forces have prepared adequate countermeasures”.
The information concerning the existence of mines was received by the Hydrographic Institute of the Spanish Navy regarding a possible warning sent by the Russian station in Novorossiysk.
(Roxana Vasile, Raio Romania International)
