Nagaland: Tackling the menace of fake news

Our Correspondent

Kohima, Nov. 23 (EMN): Nagaland Police on Monday, has yet again issued another reminder on Facebook and Twitter, informing social media users to be careful of fake news and rumours especially at the present times.

Speaking to Eastern Mirror, a high-ranking police officer informed that they have uploaded the reminder on social media again as people tend to circulate fake news without verifying it.

‘There are people who create mischief and misunderstanding,’ adding difficulties during difficult times, said the officer while speaking under the condition of anonymity.

“Law and order situations have been created by the menace of fake news / rumours,” the update stated adding that such ‘deceiving propagandas’ are made viral in social media by ‘unscrupulous people’ who post it forward without verification.

The circular also reminded the internet community to be aware that posting or forwarding of fake news is a criminal offence. As such, the police appealed to the users not to ‘make it a habit’ in spreading any news without verifying its authenticity.

Considering the trend of fake news at the national level, the police have been issuing the general advisory in the interest of the public, he said stating that they tend to caution the public from time to time advising them to be more ‘responsible and responsive’.

The officer said that any person needs to be updated before sharing any information on social media, and should atleast take a ‘little trouble to cross check if it is true or otherwise.’

The officer advised citizens to be responsible enough to evaluate the credibility of certain information, which are circulated on social media from the competent authorities like district administration, district police, police headquarter, office of the commissioner or chief secretary.

He informed that even the Centre has stated that the “circulation of fake news is going to be dealt with very heavily” adding that circulating libelous information may land a person in jail for about three years with even a fine of INR 10,000.

The police officer therefore cautioned people not to take advisories for granted.

Speaking to this newspaper, a proprietor of a hospital shared that ‘illiterate and uneducated ones are at the receiving end of fake news which are also being created by educated people.’

She cited an example of a recent propaganda against Pope Francis who was said to be endorsing gay marriage through fake news. She said that such false news could hurt the sentiments of many Catholics if not verified properly.

She maintained that Nagaland is still in a position where its people are “unable to come out from the shell of believing fake news.”

 A health worker shared that though she goes through the updates on social media platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp, she always refers to the newspaper for authentic information.