Dehradun: In the wake of a spate of mob lynching cases across the country due to fake news on social media , the state police is now planning to launch a crackdown on peddlers of misinformation.Emphasising that spreading rumours and false information would lead to disruption of law and order, top officials of the police force cautioned the public to check the authenticity of news items on social media before sharing it with others. Ashok Kumar, ADG (law and order), said, “Social media platforms like Facebook Twitter and WhatsApp have the capability to spread information to a wide audience at record speed. Hence, the onus is on individuals to check the veracity of information they share with others.” “Spreading rumours and fake news on social media is a crime. We will take strict action against those trying to disrupt law and order in the state. This is possible only through awareness and cooperation of people. We will also organise workshops at regular intervals to curb the menace,” he added.Union home minister Rajnath Singh had for the first time on Thursday admitted in the Lok Sabha that fake news on social media has resulted in many mob lynching incidents across the country. He said that the government has asked service providers to keep a tab on rumour mongering on social media, adding that the home ministry had issued two advisories to the state governments, one in 2016 and the other a few days back, urging them to take action in such incidents. Also, WhatsApp, owned by social media giant Facebook, had on Friday announced that it will limit message forwarding to five chats for its users in India after being prodded by the Union government over the platform’s role in the dissemination of misinformation.

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