Dr. Bahaa Helmy Writes: Immunization and Defense Against the Danger of Rumors

We notice that rumors are growing more intense, and that some incidents designed to stir up sectarian strife are expected, as the date of the presidential election draws nearer. This comes in light of the failure of the media machines directed against Egypt, as part of a psychological war aimed at directly influencing people's minds and casting doubt on the electoral procedures. Nevertheless, attempts are still continuing to sway people's convictions about going to the ballot boxes and voting.

Rumors consist of spreading news and information about issues and topics that are believable and of concern to a broad segment of citizens. They become more sensational when the rumor is cast in a scandalous form or as provocative stories, by weaving false and fabricated information, or through distortion and misrepresentation and the smearing of personal reputations, especially through defamation or slander. Rumors can target a specific influential segment, such as women or young people, in order to shake their confidence in their beliefs, their values and their society.

The rumor about chicken and the danger it supposedly poses to human health has spread, and rumors are likewise circulating about vaccination, its effects, its dangers and so on. Although the same methods were used in previous elections by the media machine of the terrorist group, which relies on technological means and media and cooperates with international, regional, Arab and local parties that share its interests and goals against the interest of the nation and national security, some people have not learned from those lessons.

It is true that the internet and social media are fertile ground for the spread of rumors; indeed, they are used to carry out and disseminate these rumors not only at the local, national and regional levels, but also at the international level, given the capacity of information technologies for concealment, speed and wide reach, and the speed with which a rumor can be turned into audio and video, at a very low cost, crossing borders and becoming global.

We are not promoting conspiracy theories or a conspiratorial outlook here, but reality confirms that the Egyptian people, its individuals, public opinion and its unity are being targeted, because the people are the rock on which all the malicious conspiracies revealed by the events of the Arab Spring and the so-called "creative chaos" were shattered.

There are certainly organized official bodies responsible for monitoring rumors and working to neutralize their effect in order to protect society from their dangers. However, we see a need to spread awareness among the public about the dangers and aims of those who send out rumors, through strategies of immunization and defense based on building awareness and increasing confidence in state institutions; informing the public in a timely manner of the truth of what is happening, and of the legal and logical grounds on which the state's plans and measures are based; exposing the parties expected to be the source of rumors; and intervening swiftly to confront those rumors in their infancy. Immunization also rests on two pillars: the first is preventive, consisting of building the public's confidence in the state and its national security; the second is exposing the source of rumors and their aims, as a danger threatening the cohesion, security and stability of society, while presenting the facts. The national media are charged with assuming their responsibility and their vital role in raising citizens' awareness and educating them in order to preserve security, stability and the cohesion of the home front.

Rumors must be dealt with extremely cautiously and through carefully considered, scientific steps, because a rumor does not target a particular body or person as such, even if it appears to do so; it is a danger to society as a whole. The responsibility for confronting rumors must be shared by everyone, each according to his field and relationships, whether community bodies and institutions, security, media, cultural and sports bodies, professional syndicates, political organizations, religious scholars or state institutions, with emphasis on the importance of processing and analyzing information to protect the public, because (minds have no walls or barriers to protect them). There is no alternative but planning and follow-up to immunize against rumors, and vigilance against the dangers of sectarian strife and resistance to it.