Press Club airs concern over spreading of disinformation

SHILONG, June 30: Frequent attempts by certain individuals or organisations to spread disinformation of the “most egregious kind” under the guise of sharing genuine news have caught the attention of the Shillong Press Club after a troll was found to be circulating on social media dragging the name of The Shillong Times Editor Patricia Mukhim into a bid to malign the name of a political party.
Raising concern over the matter, the Shillong Press Club has advised the public to carefully consider the source of information available on social media.
“Although the advent of citizen journalism, via the arming of the general public with smartphones, does have its merits, it is imperative that, in this age of fake news, the public carefully considers the source of all the many posts that arrive through social media and messaging apps before giving any credence to them,” it said in a statement issued here.
The Press Club feels that “it is also incumbent upon the law enforcement to take stringent action against the disseminators of such criminally defamatory posts”.