GURUGRAM: Defence minister and senior BJP leader Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday urged the party’s Haryana IT cell workers to counter “fake news being spread by enemy countries — Pakistan in particular — on the social media”.She alleged the neighbouring country had made thousands of bogus accounts on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to spread fabricated news about India.Highlighting the use of social media against India by Pakistan, the union minister said after the Pulwana attack, that country is excessively using social media to disseminate false information and news to misguide citizens, thereby creating divisions.“Pakistan is using Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms in a well-planned manner to conspire against India. They have made thousands of fake accounts just to spread misleading information with an intention to harm our society and country,” she said.Asking workers not to do get misled by such fake posts, she said they should use social media in a positive way to reach out to people and spread good work of the government.Sitaraman was in Gurugram to participate in the volunteers’ meet of Haryana IT Cell ahead of the general elections. Around 2,000 volunteers from across the state participated in the meeting.Opposition parties, she said, are also active on social media, and it’s important to counter them carefully with facts. “Before posting anything on social media, make sure you have full knowledge about the subject,” she said, adding it’s better to carry out a research before posting anything on social media.She urged volunteers to make sure they make multiple posts about a subject. “People and followers do not take seriously if you just make one post about a subject. It is advisable to post at least three messages,” she advised volunteers, adding that information should be verified before posting them.“If you lack information on the subject, then talk to the person concerned before posting it. It is very important to put forth your point and information in a proper way,” the minister said.Talking about the work done by the Modi government, Sitaraman said never before in the history any government has done so much of work in its five-year tenure.“The details of work done by the government are available on websites, mobile apps and other platforms. Every department has put up details of work done by them on their website,” she said.The minister also told IT cell workers it was important to spread the work done by the government to masses, and at the same time party workers should be watchful about development on social media.“We should monitor who is writing what about us and whether it is misguiding people. We need to be very careful. It is also important to confront wrong information with facts,” Sitharaman said. CM Manohar Lal was also present in the meeting.

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