On the occasion of April 1, the National Office for Cyber and Information Security (NÚKIB) warned against information appearing on the Internet. He reminded that their veracity needs to be verified not only on April Fool’s Day, but throughout the year.
“1. April is the only day when we are really critical of information on the Internet. Verify not only on April Fool’s Day, but also throughout the year and don’t immediately believe everything that is written on the Internet or ‘came via WhatsApp,'” NÚKIB wrote on the social network.
According to a survey by the Median agency for the CEDMO institute from last August, almost three-quarters of Czechs think that misinformation that spreads on the Internet is a serious problem. Over fourteen percent of people rate them as not very serious. Less than eight percent do not consider false and manipulative information on the web to be a problem.
Lies on the Internet are considered serious by slightly more women than men. Age also plays a role in the assessment of disinformation, people aged 16 to 24 will find untruths on the web the most problematic. The older Czechs are, the less they find the spread of misinformation a problem. People over the age of 65 perceive them the least.
The Ministry of the Interior also wants to fight against misinformation on the Internet. Together with other components of the public administration, the Nenaletět.cz project was launched last fall, which is intended to help citizens navigate information on the Internet and recognize misinformation, lies and unsubstantiated information.
