Hungarian police raided a network of fake news sites about corona virus deaths in the country.
The suspect included a man and a woman who "operated dozens of fake news sites and related Facebook accounts", which reported that some Hungarians were infected and died of corona virus, police said. on the February 8 website.
"A 37-year-old Hungarian woman fainted and died in Budapest, likely due to the corona virus" is one of the headlines on the fake news site.
Police also confiscated several computers during the raid on several locations on February 7. Authorities identified fake news sites with sensational headlines aimed at "view sentences" and increased advertising revenue.
The new strain of corona virus (nCoV) is the cause of the acute pneumonia outbreak in Wuhan city, capital of Hubei province, central China since December 2019. The disease has spread to 31 Chinese provinces and 26 countries and territories around the world, killing 813 people and 37,552 people infected. No nCoV infections have been reported in Hungary.
Governments in many countries have strongly declared fake news about nCoV. Malaysian police arrested six people for spreading false information about the virus, and Thailand also arrested two people with similar behavior. Kazakh police, which share a common border with China, arrested two ambulance drivers on charges of spreading rumors about nCoV infections. South Korean President Moon Jae-in said the government would also deal aggressively with spreading fake news about the disease.
Countries with nCoV pneumonia patients. Click on image to see details.