SHILLONG: Police have registered four cases of fake news relating to COVID-19 pandemic. Assistant Inspector General of Police (A) GK Iangrai said despite several appeals to refrain from propagating or circulating fake news and rumours relating to the COVID-19 pandemic on social media or any other platform, some individuals have disregarded it and uploaded/posted contents which were found to be fake. He said that in this connection, three cases have been registered in Cyber Crime Police Station and another has been registered in Williamnagar Police Station against rumour mongers under the relevant provisions of Indian Penal Code, Information Technology Act and National Disaster Management Act.
Out of the four cases, three were registered after applications received through the Fake News Verification Portal were verified to be fake news. He said that a content, which was uploaded in a Facebook page, Ka Sur U Paidbah, was found to be fake and hence a case was registered Similarly, the other cases which have been registered include a post regarding a person who has been infected with COVID-19, a post regarding the WHO Protocol & Procedures for lockdown, and several other fake news.
The citizens of the state have been once requested to desist from uploading/ circulating contents without verifying the authenticity of the content.
Panel meets
Meanwhile, the committee to take effective measure to check circulation of fake news headed by the Director of Information and Public Relations met on Tuesday.
After a brief deliberation, the committee decided to appeal to the media, citizen journalists and general public not to indulge in posting and publishing any news in any media which is not verified from concerned authorities.
The appeal was made so as not to create confusion in the mind of the masses and also to avoid unnecessary punitive action, a press release said.
