Sharing Information on COVID-19: the ethical challenges in the Malaysian setting

The COVID-19 pandemic has raised challenges in dealing with information sharing by the public and the authorities. There are two categories of information sharing on social media that are believed to be potentially problematic and unethical: the sharing of personal information of patients and the sharing of fake news or false information. We present a discussion on how the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia can be ethically handled in terms of information sharing. It is recommended that the public should cultivate the basic skills to evaluate information and determine its validity. On the other hand, the authorities should refrain from placing the blame on patients to avoid them from being stigmatized. It is crucial that all parties are aware of their ethical duty to ensure only ethical and valid information gets shared on social media.