FACT-CHECK: Fabricated advisories declaring a lockdown due to Mpox virus spread on social media

CLAIM: News cards and public advisory posters declaring a lockdown due to Mpox virus.

RATING: FALSE

Several fabricated and recycled news cards and public advisory posters have circulated on Facebook, falsely claiming that a general community quarantine (GCQ) could be imposed across Metro Manila and other regions within the month of June due to increasing cases of Mpox virus infections in the Philippines.

These fabricated images have drawn numerous engagements from social media users who worried and mostly feared for their safety, as the restrictions from the supposed GCQ might be similar to the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown in 2020.

To make the false claims believable, the purveyors of the fabricated images imitated publicity materials from news organizations or government agencies and published them on Facebook pages that were also created to mimic well-known organizations.

Some of the organizations being imitated were ABS-CBN News, GMA Integrated News, and the Department of Health (DOH), while some posters also used the logo of the World Health Organization (WHO).

A PressOnePH investigation found that the earliest post was from Facebook user “Ragasa Jr. Ditz,” who published on May 29 Mpox tally updates and precautions along with a false claim of a possible lockdown.

Even though the claim was unsubstantiated, it prompted unverified Facebook pages and other users to spread misinformation about a possible quarantine using the name and publicity materials of well-known organizations.

At the end of May, three fake Facebook pages reported on potential lockdowns: “Health News Ph” announced a widespread lockdown on June 10; “Partido Local” warned of a possible Luzon-wide total lockdown if the virus became uncontrollable; and “Gov.ph Update” stated that Metro Manila would be under GCQ on June 10.

The fabricated images were commonly accompanied by captions with hyperlinks disguised as news updates regarding the Mpox virus from seemingly reliable sources.

However, the attached hyperlinks redirected social media users to online shopping sites like Shopee and Lazada. 

False claims from the pages also caused the old ABS-CBN News post about the GCQ in June 2020 to resurface and continuously gain traction from social media users, causing public alarm despite it referring to the Covid-19 pandemic five years ago.

ABS-CBN News released a fact-check article on May 31 stating that it did not release official news cards declaring a possible lockdown, and that the fabricated images were altered and taken from an old post.

After being widely shared, the DOH May 31 debunked these falsehoods, stating, “Walang lockdown kahit saan man sa Pilipinas” (There is no lockdown anywhere in the Philippines).

The DOH also warned against similar fake Mpox-related lockdown posts on Facebook, describing them as deceptive marketing, fake endorsements, or fabricated health claims.

As of writing, one viral post about Mpox cases garnered about 4,800 reactions, 599 comments, and 19,000 shares. Alessandra Reodique and Jamaica Cabilis

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