From Thailand to India, governments have told people not to make April Fools’ Day pranks related to the COVID-19 pandemic, with some threatening jail time as they seek to prevent the spread of rumors which could put lives at risk.
Technology giant Google, which is famous for its annual spoofs, has canceled the tradition because of the pandemic, while Thailand on Tuesday said that jokes about the coronavirus could be punished under a law carrying a sentence of up to five years in prison.
“It’s against the law to fake having COVID-19 this April Fools’ Day,” the government wrote on Twitter.
In India, Maharashtra state’s cybersecurity unit said it would take legal action against anyone spreading fake news on April Fools’ Day.
“The state govt won’t allow anyone to spread rumours/panic on #Corona,” Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh wrote on Twitter, adding that he had instructed the authorities to “act swiftly & strongly [against] such miscreants.”
Under the heading “Corona is no joke,” the German Ministry of Health also urged the public not to make up stories related to the coronavirus.
With people relying on the Internet and media for vital information about the pandemic, there were fears that jokes could fan the spread of misinformation.
From drinking cow urine to sleeping by chopped onions, myths about how people could catch and cure COVID-19 were already widely circulating on the Internet.
The WHO has described it as an “infodemic,” which could increase the spread of the coronavirus among vulnerable people.
Google said it had suspended its annual April Fools’ tradition “out of respect for all those fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“Our highest goal right now is to be helpful to people, so let’s save the jokes for next April, which will undoubtedly be a whole lot brighter than this one,” Google said in an internal e-mail to staff.
In previous years, Google has advertised fictitious jobs at a new research center on the moon, turned Google Maps into a game of “Where’s Waldo” — or “Where’s Wally” — and claimed its search technology uses trained pigeons to rank pages.
Taylor Herring, a British public relations agency whose clients include TV channels and international brands, advised all companies to ditch the jokes this year.
“Tip for any brands planning an April Fool’s Day stunt. Just. Don’t,” it wrote on social media.
Others commented on Twitter that April Fools’ Day had been canceled because no one could make up anything more unbelievable than what is currently happening in the world.
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