A government body doesn't become an "authority" automatically, in the sense of being trusted as an authoritative source. It has to establish such a reputation o

A government body doesn't become an "authority" automatically, in the sense of being trusted as an authoritative source. It has to establish such a reputation over time. If it has established such a reputation, I'd be happier to trust its information than something circulated on Facebook from an unknown source. After all, we generally can't check each observation or theory ourselves first hand. Deciding which sources are trustworthy and which are not is a critical issue.