Bengaluru police to set up social media monitoring units
“If there are instances of fake posts and news going viral then we will fact check and provide correct information based on the facts," the police commissioner said.
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The Karnataka police has been operating a fact check service on its state website for a couple of years. (Representational photo) Bengaluru police have decided to set up social media monitoring units at all police stations, offices of all divisional deputy police commissioners and the office of the Commissioner of Police to counter propaganda that could lead to law and order issues.
“When there are law and order incidents we have found that many times the cause of the incidents are social media posts, some are provocative, some are hate posts, which provoke and agitate people and is responsible for law and order situations,” Bengaluru police commissioner B Dayananda said Saturday while announcing social media monitoring. He said that the social media monitoring will be carried out at three levels in the city.
“If there are instances of fake posts and news going viral then we will fact check and provide correct information based on the facts. There will be teams at the station level, at the DCP office level and at the CoP office level,” the police commissioner said. Personnel have been trained at the station level to identify provocative and fake posts and to establish the truth, he said.
“It has been decided that in all police stations, technically qualified personnel will keep a watch and monitor such posts… actions will be taken at the police station level and directions have been issued,” Dayananda said. “At the division level, small teams will be created in DCP offices to monitor social media activities and at the office of the Commissioner of Police a larger team will be constituted and we will be watching over social media daily,” he said.
The Karnataka police has been operating a fact check service on its state website for a couple of years. Last year in April following the death of a 19-year-old youth in west Bengaluru, BJP leaders claimed that the cause of murder was the victim’s inability to speak Urdu. The then Bengaluru police commissioner and the fact check facility on the state police website indicated that the incident was one of road rage following an accident, even as the then state home minister Araga Jnanendra contradicted the police initially. The home minister withdrew his statements after a fact check service by the Karnataka police debunked messages floated on social media by handles linked to right-wing activists and some local TV channels that put out unverified information.
“After verifying the veracity of the fact and realising the news being circulated is fake, it is requested that such fake news should not be shared on social media without proper verification. Also it is warned that appropriate legal action will be taken against those who deliberately spread such fake news to disturb social harmony,” the police said.
Earlier in August 2020 a major incident of rioting occurred in east Bengaluru after an MLA’s nephew put up a controversial social media post which triggered protests and violence. The post by the MLA’s nephew was in response to a provocative post by an SDPI activist.
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