By Vicky Wireko
Take news leading to misinformation, negative and dead news of no relevance continue to invade our spaces, creating dizziness among people, drawing in panic, fear, worry and unnecessary defeat.
These are dangerous times for damaging and misleading social media information. False and adulterated news are making and would continue to make the rounds, eroding passion and getting the vulnerable to fall for them.
How do we curb them to stop the needless panic as not everyone would have the chance and the means to do fact-checks? Speedy rebuttal, where necessary, will calm the panic.
Between last Tuesday evening and Wednesday noon, I had seen on different WhatsApp platforms, six supposedly five-year-old social media audio on fuel stations that in 2019, were reported to have adjusted their nozzles to cheat consumers. As usual, the quick-to-comment reactions poured in.
Undeniably, for anyone who never heard the original audio five years ago, there was everything in that audio news to believe that what one was hearing on social media was a fresh and recent happening.
The details and discussions therefrom were so dramatic and real to cause fear and worry, especially for consumers who live in and around the areas in Accra listed in the audio and where the fuel stations were located.
Twenty-four hours on hearing that the audio related to something that happened in 2019, the natural reaction was, “What then was the motive” of throwing it out there at all?
Of course, we are in a season where made-up stories to cause distraction and worry can become the norm. But should one watch on, especially when the reviews emanating from such publications become judgmental, full of attacks, condemnatory and even threatening group action that can disturb the peace?
Timely statement
That is why one is inclined to appreciate the rebuttal and timely statement issued last Wednesday by the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) barely 24 hours after the audio went viral.
The statement sought to assure fuel consumers, especially those who live in the areas listed in the audio, that the said news story was yet another mischief which consumers should disregard.
The statement dated and signed by COPEC’s Executive Secretary gives much assurance since they were the ones who granted the original story in an interview with a radio station in 2019. The boldness to explain issues is commendable.
For the benefit of those of us who missed the original interview and the facts behind it, the statement goes into the background, explaining that it was a Ghana Standards Authority’s (GSA) report in 2019 that triggered the whole report then.
Recalling the GSA report, the statement explained that some specific fuel pumps in Accra had their quantities of fuel below tolerance levels during one of their routine inspections in Accra.
What should make the recent social media audio making the rounds an outright dismissal is a point clearly stated by the Chamber that the issue was decisively dealt with at the time.
The Chamber’s statement is explicit with steps that were taken to rectify things following the report that came out from GSA. One step of assurance was that the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) agreed to open up for visual inspection and subsequent compensation by way of free fuel to the affected customers.
Furthermore, with all that done, some officials of the OMCs together with the GSA, COPEC and some media men and women visited each of the affected pumps to verify that indeed, there had been rectification at the pumps mentioned in the audio.
As to why consumers should take the COPEC’s statement to heart, they made a claim that at the time in 2019, they did not just rest on their oars in the exercise they took, they also claim that subsequent testing has since been done to ensure that the industry remained compliant, saying, “As at present, the industry is almost 99 per cent compliant”.
So, one may ask, what has been the motive behind the release of a five-year-old audio which was satisfactorily dealt with and verifiably sorted out?
As one recalls the former US President, Barrack Obama’s admonition that a nation is built on strong institutions, why would anyone like to destroy institutions rather than help build them up?
One does not need to hide behind fake, negative or unproductive news to destroy institutions, industries and sometimes even personalities to cause mischief.
The season we are in and where we are heading to in the next three months would rather call for encouragement to individuals and institutions and celebrate hard work and achievements to bring the peace and calmness that our nation deserves.
It may not be all that gloomy after all, so let us tread with caution and desist from causing needless panic and fear.
