Young researchers from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) will share their research on cybercrime activities and the spread of misinformation (fake news) during the COVID-19 pandemic at a media briefing scheduled to take place at the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) in Pretoria, on Tuesday, 23 June 2020.

Like many other countries, South Africa is battling the spread of misinformation during this pandemic, and this has become a challenge as some of these claims have the potential to create panic across the world. On the other hand, as learners and members of the public are forced to turn to online learning during lockdown, there are increased cyber risks involved with associated activities.

The briefing forms part of the Youth Month celebrations, under the theme, "Youth Power: Growing South Africa together in the Period of COVID-19". The media briefing will give insights into the significant role played by young scientists in the fight to curb the spread of COVID-19. They will also demonstrate how facial recognition systems are the answer to contactless identification and, inevitably, the decrease in the spread of COVID-19.

Details of the media briefing are as follow:

Date: Tuesday, 23 June 2020

Time: 11:00 - 12:30

Venue: Ronnie Mamoepa Press Room, Tshedimosetso House, 1035 Francis Baard Street, Hatfield

Media may view the briefing via live streaming on the SA Government Facebook page, Twitter and YouTube channel on the links below.

Facebook: http://facebook.com/GovernmentZA

Twitter: http://twitter.com/GovernmentZA

YouTube: http://youtube.com/GovernmentZA

The SABC will provide pool feed as follows:

Satellite Amos7 @ 4 West

Downlink 12649.5 Mhz V

Symbol Rate 2.7 MSym/s

Modulation 8PSK

Video HD H.264 @ 4.2.0

RSVP:

Kgauhelo Dioka, CSIR Media Relations Practitioner

Email: kdioka@csir.co.za

Mobile number: 073 398 8633

Enquiries:

David Mandaha, CSIR Media Relations Manager

Tel: 012 841 3654

Mobile: 072 126 8910

Email: dmandaha@csir.co.za