The Meghalaya Police have registered four cases against individuals who have circulated fake news on COVID-19 despite repeated warnings.
While three cases have been registered in the Cyber Crime police station, one case has been registered in Williamnagar police station.
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Informing this, the assistant IGP, Meghalaya, GK Iangrai said “despite several appeals to the general public to refrain from propagating or circulating false news/rumours relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, through social media or any other medium, some individuals have disregarded the appeal and uploaded/posted contents which were found to be fake news.”
“In this connection, three cases have been registered in Cyber Crime Police Station and 1 case has been registered in Williamnagar police station against rumour mongers, under the relevant previsions of IPC, Information Technology Act and National Disaster Management Act,” he added.
“Out of the 4 cases, 3 cases have been registered after the applications, which have been received through the Fake News Verification Portal, have been verified to be fake news,” AIGP Iangrai said in a statement.
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He said a content, which was uploaded in a Facebook page “Ka Sur U Paidbah”, has been found to be fake news and hence a case has been registered.
The other cases, which have been registered, include a post regarding a person who has been stated to be infected with COVID-19, a post regarding the WHO Protocol & Procedures for lockdown, and several other fake news, said the top cop.
“The citizens of the state are hereby requested to kindly desist from uploading/circulating contents without verifying the authenticity of the content,” said Iangrai.
To verify information regarding COVID-19, the citizens have been requested to make use of the online portal hosted in the department’s website http://www.megpolice.gov.in. Information can also be validated by checking the verified information uploaded in http://www.megpolice.gov.in./ covid-19-fake-news or through the department’s official social media pages@ http://www.facebook.com/meghpolice or @https://twitter.com/MeghalayaPolice.
IMPORTANT ALERT
Stringent Action is being taken against people spreading, prompting and sharing rumours & Fake News about #COVID19 Pandemic.
We once again request citizens to refrain from sharing unverified news and rumours. pic.twitter.com/GUMIF0iqvb
— Meghalaya Police (@MeghalayaPolice) April 7, 2020