CHENNAI: As all other activities have come to a standstill due to the nationwide lockdown, people are increasingly spending more time in front of screens. This in turn leads to the audience falling prey to fake content circulating all over social media platforms and the State police personnel are finding it difficult to keep them at bay.
Even more dangerous than coronavirus, this virus seems to be difficult to curtail, say police personnel in Crime Branch Department as hundreds of old videos keep floating in the social media sea. A senior officer from the crime branch says that more than 100 people have been arrested since lockdown was initiated for using social media in an unfavourable manner. “It has become a big burden. Any big event that attracts public attention becomes fodder for fake information.
What’s worse, it is done to inflict hatred and projected as what’s actually happening,” said a senior police officer. For example, regarding the custodial death case in Thoothukudi, numerous videos were circulated with fake claims. One such video showed a man hung from a ceiling and thumped with sticks. Later, the Cyber Crime Wing clarified that it was an incident that happened at Wadi in Nagpur an year ago, where a truck owner assaulted his driver.
The initial days of lockdown fuelled fake news aimed at Muslims and the Tablighi Jamaat incident in Delhi. Miscreants circulated videos blaming Muslims for the spread of coronavirus and showing them spitting on food. “Circulation of fake content on social media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook and YouTube is constantly being monitored. As soon as we spot a rumour on social media, we first inform the host that it is derogatory, next we ask them to take down the content.
If they don’t comply with our instructions and keep posting repeatedly, we arrest them,” said the police officer. Cops have been asking users not to believe everything they come across on social media and most importantly, not forward it to their contacts. Eventually, people forget to understand the veracity of a particular incident and believe what’s being fed to them. Several attempts to educate people regarding this have gone in vain. “Since people are locked at home, they have easy access to the internet and tend to spend more time on social networking sites. They come across fake content and start believing them,” said the senior officer.
Another hindrance to combating fake news is that police are stuck with conventional methods of monitoring news and reporting it to the service providers. A cop in Cyber Crime Wing said he joined the unit when it was created at the age of 47, not knowing how to use a smartphone. “We had several sessions and classes on cyber crime and were taught how to use certain various advanced software but most of us do not understand. We go by the same conventional method to catch the criminal,” he added. Lack of a specialised team and policy changes by social media platforms are other hindrances that police face.
“We have a team of personnel who are equipped with facilities but lack technical knowledge. A group of young minds are just joining the field. Moreover, with social media platforms, we do not have a freehand. They hesitate to let us have information as it curtails freedom of speech but it is a crime as well,” added a senior officer.