Fake news in the Northeast: Verify news before forwarding, says DGP

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KOHIMA, June 11, 2018: The Northeast has been grappling with the problem of "fake news" on social media which allegedly fomented the recent violence in Shillong, led to the assault of a mentally ill woman in Nagaland who was accused of being a child-lifter and "created panic" over the spread of Nipah virus in Assam.

As the Centre gears up to connect each village in the Northeast with better telecom and Internet services, misuse of social media to spread "rumours and hatred" is fast becoming a worry for police and law-enforcement agencies.

"Rumours and fake news are being forwarded through WhatsApp or posted on other social media platforms without verifying their authenticity. This creates confusion among people and often results in panic," Nagaland director-general of police Rupin Sharma said on Saturday, adding that the state police started an online drive asking people to exercise restraint and verify information before forwarding it to others.

"If anyone feels any information is a rumour or is likely to cause embarrassment or discomfort to any person or community, they should first verify it before forwarding," he said.

Nagaland police have opened a Facebook account, a Twitter handle and a WhatsApp number to allow people to verify "fake news".

A mentally ill woman was attacked in Nagaland after a rumour spread on social media that some women child-lifters were roaming in the state. The copy of a traffic challan was shared on social media saying the police was illegally collecting money from people.

WhatsApp messages about people falling ill in Meghalaya's Williamnagar and Assam's Nalbari district owing to Nipah last week sent health workers into tizzy.

Shillong witnessed violence from the night of May 31 after "fake news" was spread on WhatsApp about the death of a Khasi man in an attack by women of another community. The incident kept Shillong tense for nearly a week with the state government calling out the army to control the situation.

Assam police also instructed all its district units last week to take action against those attacking people after "fake news" about child-lifters was spread on social media.

Two men were lynched in Karbi Anglong on Friday night after rumours on social media about child lifters.

TNT with inputs from The Telegraph