Santo Domingo.-The director of the Dominican Institute of Telecommunications (Indotel), Guido Gómez Mazara, warned that in the Dominican Republic 62 % of the information that circulate in social networks are false (fake news).
In addition, he pointed out that 70 % of people who share or retweet online content do so with false information, which aggravates the impact of misinformation.
With 88.5 % Internet access in the country, this means that at least three million of the ten million Dominican citizens are exposed daily to false information.
“We are all sailing in a sea of lies. From the point of view of social networks and the construction of information.
I am not a judge of how information is built, ”said Gómez Mazara by offering statistics that reflect the institutional effort so that the truth prevails in front of the lie.
The official explained that these practices are reflected especially in the political sphere.
According to studies cited by the official, the parties in the Dominican Republic, including their own, with exceptions, have promoted false information for political, commercial, business and even sports purposes.
“What is happening in the Dominican Republic in the current political situation is the impulse of a pernicious narrative,” he warned, noting that opposition sectors reproduce schemes based on manipulated statistics that do not correspond to the macroeconomic reality.
Gómez Mazara stressed that his position is critical, even within his own party:
“I am not a vulgar promoter of politics. When I have had to criticize and compete with the current president, I have done it. I do not have my head to anyone,” he said.
The Director of Indotel also denounced that social networks are not only used for political manipulation, but also to harm people, including minors.
“Our institutions have arrived more than 5,000 complaints of bullying against minors,” he said.
Given this situation, he announced that together with other institutions, Indotel will launch an awareness campaign on the responsible use of social networks.
Campaign Start
– Disinformation
The awareness campaign will be presented on Monday at the International Book Fair, with the aim of fighting misinformation and protecting citizens. He indicated that from the Indotel they contribute to this effort.
Expires today to register identity
Prepaid Guido Gómez Mazara reported that telephone companies have complied with the resolution that orders to register with real identity to users of prepaid cell phone lines.
This Monday ends the 30 -day period granted by Indotel so that mobile services providers to validate and purify the identity of prepaid service users, in order to facilitate that the authorities can track the head of calls or messages linked to crimes.
Telecommunications companies have been informing their clients to do the process through digital platforms, which has been done.
