Tamil Nadu Budget 2022: Police department to have exclusive Social Media monitoring centre

The state police department has received Rs 1385 crore more from the previous year budget and the fire department has received Rs 91 crore than the last year.

Image for representational purpose only.

CHENNAI: The state government to battle fake news and misinformation on social media platforms have decided to form a Special Social Media Centre under the police department.

The ruling DMK government on Friday on it's budget allocated Rs 10,285 crore to the Tamil Nadu police department and another Rs 496.5 crore to the fire department. The state police department has received Rs 1385 crore more from the previous year budget and the fire department has received Rs 91 crore than the last year.

On Friday during the state budget, Finance Minister Palanivel Thiagarajan said that the police department would receive a Special Social Media Monitoring Centre, where the department would fight the misinformation and fake news on internet platforms.

The State police force, which has been on social media since 2017, found an increasing acceptance on virtual space as its followers doubled during the peak of lockdown. The social media cell which exists under the Modernisation department, posts fake news and awareness videos on social media platforms.

However, with the rise of the internet and availability of smartphones with everyone, the need to fight misinformation and fake news has become a need of the hour, said a senior police officer. Hence, the Social Monitoring Centre is expected to have authority to register cases and permission to take down fake posts.

The Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services (TNFRS) will be upgraded into a highly mechanised unit, said the Finance Minister. In the past year, the fire service personnel had received 57,451 distress calls and over 16,809 fire related incidents were dealt with by the personnel.

Speaking to The New Indian Express, a senior police officer attached to the department Headquarters wing said that about 80 percent of the budget is to fund the salaries for the police personnel in the state for the year and the additional money could be spent for infrastructure in the newly formed Commissionerates, buy new technological equipments, formation of the new social media monitoring centre and further expenses would be decided within a month.