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The viral spread of fake news is “sparking new confusion about the virus among the public,” a review by the Analysis Bureau of the state Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness found.
This includes “misleading videos, falsely attributed information and the recycling of COVID-19 conspiracies,” which officials say is “causing dissent.”
“As we see an attempt to sow discord in New Jersey and throughout our country through the spread of disinformation, it is critical that we communicate accurate information to the public, especially as it relates to the monkeypox virus,” Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday.
The governor urged residents to tap into state resources about for “information about symptoms, risks and availability of both testing and vaccines.”
The “disinformation” campaign began during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“With the latest monkeypox outbreak, we want to avoid a repeat of events, where incorrect information spreads quickly across communities,” NJOHSP Director Laurie Doran said.
Disinformation “has the potential to incite panic, create distrust between the government and people, increase polarization, influence government actions or law enforcement responses, exhaust resources and bring about undue harm,” a release from Doran’s office says.
“Monkeypox (hMPXV) disinformation may cause people who are infected to avoid treatment or vaccination as they may feel stigmatized, hampering efforts to help those individuals and curb the outbreak,” it adds.
NJOHSP Intelligence and Operations Division Director Thomas Hauck said experts “collected and analyzed the data in our latest disinformation intelligence note to bring awareness to current monkeypox misconceptions.”
A release issued by their office on Monday reads, in part:
“Members of the public who encounter information that contains a threat or a call to action, incites potential violence or appears to have a nexus to terrorism, should immediately report it to local law enforcement or to NJOHSP by contacting 1-866-4-SAFE-NJ (1-866-472-3365) or tips@njohsp.gov.
“Visit NJOHSP’s Disinformation Portal and Monkeypox (hMPXV) Report for more information and tips to vet content and sources.”
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