NATIONAL NEWS - Last week, legal experts took to radio station Radio Sonder Grense (RSG) to warn listeners that jail time could result from spreading Covid-19 fake news.
Dr Llewelyn Curlewis, a senior lecturer and criminal law specialist with the University of Pretoria, and Adv Jacqueline Fick, CEO of VizStrat Solutions and a renowned cybercrime expert, drove home the message during an interview with RSG on Wednesday, June 30.
They were responding to the latest coronavirus hoax doing the rounds on WhatsApp.
A day later, on July 1, the Supreme Court of Appeal set aside a 2020 High Court order in terms of which many of South Africa’s level 3 and 4 lockdown regulations were declared unconstitutional and invalid.
This means the bulk of South Africa’s lockdown regulations are enforceable. Case law expert Louis Podbielski summarised some key aspects of the case on LinkedIn.
Read the full judgment by clicking here.
The fake voice note
The voice note that the legal experts were commenting on, featured a man who identified himself as Dawie van Tonder of the Democratic Alliance (DA). He alleged that he had attended government’s National Coronavirus Command Council meeting and that government ‘will close down everything’. He urged recipients to spread his message ‘to everyone they love and hate’. DA Gauteng chairperson Fred Nel confirmed that the voice message was fake.
Can the creators of fake news be tracked down?
According to Fick, it is possible.
“The quicker you take action after becoming aware of such a voice note, the easier it will be to trace the culprit,” she said.
Methods used to track down malicious creators of false information include IP address tracking, the tracing of telephone numbers, and requesting information through section 205 summonses. These are issued by the South African Police Service after a criminal case has been opened. She added that cellphone numbers are used to plot user locations, and that voice notes themselves may contain important clues regarding the creator.
“If you do not have special tools, you may even use public information and open-source intelligence to profile and to try and track someone like that down. Search for the creator’s name – perhaps they have a public social media profile? Have they done it before? In so doing, you could determine who the person is, or is not.”
The fate faced by fake news spreaders
Curlewis explained that the country’s lockdown regulations were issued in terms of the Disaster Management Act, which is a law in itself. It declares that any person who publishes a statement by means of any medium, with the intention of deceiving anyone else regarding Covid-related information, commits a crime. If found guilty that person can be sentenced to six months in jail, payment of a fine, or both.
* Curlewis reminded listeners that such conduct constitutes more than just a violation of lockdown regulations.
- If you incite people to refrain from adhering to lockdown regulations, you are inciting unlawful behaviour. This was criminalised prior to the rise of Covid-19.
- If you cause someone not to take steps to protect themselves from infection and, in so doing, cause their infection or death, you can be prosecuted for common law crimes such as assault, attempted murder or murder.
- Once found guilty of crimes like assault, attempted murder or murder, you may end up spending a minimum of 15 years in jail, or could even receive a life sentence.
In subsequent correspondence with Caxton Local Media, Fick indicated that fake news can sometimes cause a serious public health risk or serious interference with or serious disruption to the delivery of an essential service.
“Such unlawful conduct can even constitute offences in terms of the Protection of Constitutional Democracy against Terrorist and Related Activities Act, 2003. Offences under this act carry much heavier sentences, which could act as a deterrent.”
She also referred to crimes that fall outside the ambit of what South Africans have come to know as lockdown regulations. “Common law offences of forgery and uttering are extremely relevant to the topic. These are types of fraudulent behaviour in which a false message is generated with the intention to deceive the audience (forgery) and then distributed (uttering) using, for example, social media.”
She added that under the new Cybercrimes Act 19 of 2020, there is also provision for the offence of cyber forgery and uttering. “There is also provision for offences referred to as malicious communications. Sections 14 and 15 specifically deal with data messages that incite damage to property or violence and also data messages that threaten persons with damage to property or violence.”
So how do you spot fake news?
- Firstly, check out the source. A named source who is open about his or her credentials is worth a lot. Unfortunately, online fraudsters have become so good at conning that some make up believable credentials.
- Secondly, Google is your friend. Double check credentials. If someone on a video alleges they are a doctor, double check that claim online. You can confirm someone’s qualifications and research experience within minutes.
- Thirdly, make use of tools like Africa Check.
- Fourthly, keeping your eyes and ears open will go a long way. Think critically about everything you receive. When you receive a video or voice note, ask yourself: Does this seem like content that an expert would share? Think about the language usage and the quality of the content. Does it seem to have been edited? Were voice-over tools or techniques used? Look at the images used in the footage and do a Google reverse image search. Oftentimes, the creators of misinformation use stock or stolen images to create their footage for the purposes of creating confusion.
