Shopian: A seminar on “fake news” was conducted by Shopian Police at District Police Headquarters here which was attended by many persons and police officers.
SSP Shopian Sandeep Chaudhary (IPS) while speaking on the occasion said that “we use words like hoax, misinformation, and untruth, but simply put, fake news is one of the main causes for disruption of peace and harmony in our society.”
The quantum jump in circulation and prevalence of fake news makes it absolutely critical which creates the need to sensitize people about the impact of fake news. “Fake News is mostly spread through social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter.”
He further added that fake news becomes much more dangerous in a volatile society. “One wrong information or rumour might incite people to indulge in violence. The biggest tragedy of the fake news is that people don’t even realize that they are being exploited by someone else to serve their own interests.”
In Kashmir, fake news about encounters and clashes are common, he claimed.” Jammu and Kashmir Police is fully equipped to deal with the menace of fake news. Admins of various WhatsApp groups have been made aware of the fact that they are responsible for any fake news spread through their groups. Legal action under relevant sections of law will be initiated against groups found indulging in rumour mongering. “
He suggested the application of six rules for any common man to check the veracity of any news item circulated in media. 1) What kind of content is this – news, opinion, advertising or something else? 2) Who and what are the sources cited, and why should I believe them? 3) What is the evidence and how was it vetted? 4) Is the main point of the piece proven by the evidence? What’s missing? 6) Is there an issue here that I want to learn more about and where could I do that?
Fake News spreads like wildfire and can be detrimental to the maintenance of law and order in society. The only way to deal with fake news is awareness among people. Media has to play a vital role in countering fake news because it undermines the legitimacy of hard working media persons who work day and night to gather the true facts and bring them to people, he said.
At the conclusion of the seminar, the SSP said that Police and Media have to work in tandem to deal with menace of fake news in our modern networked societies.
