TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The national police’s cyber unit is currently in the hunt to exterminate online misinformation, or hoax, regarding the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. As of Friday, March 27, police discovered information shared online disguised as news that are actually fake news.

”There are 46 cases of coronavirus fake information that we are currently handling,” said national police spokesman Brig. Gen. Argo Yuwono.

Argo did not elaborate how the cases are investigated, nor were the origins of the hoaxes revealed. He only assured that police will continue to further investigate the matter.

Police have arrested a number people over charges for spreading fake news about the outbreak, which also come in the form of videos with ill-informed narratives. One example was a woman who recorded a process of a passed-out mall employee was being taken into an ambulance.

The woman, who is now in police custody, voiced over the video and claimed that the employee taken by the ambulance had transmitted the coronavirus.

The video the woman recorded eventually went viral on social media and other online platforms. However, East Jakarta police chief, Adj. Commissioner Herry Purnomo said police revealed that the woman’s narrative was false and that the employee that was taken to the ambulance was not connected to a coronavirus case.

M JULNIS FIRMANSYAH