UP Police to raise ‘digital army’ to fight fake news
LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Police will raise an army of 3,67,250 digital volunteers to counter fake news which is creating a law and order problem and disturbing communal harmony in the state, director general of police (DGP) OP Singh said.
Talking to media persons here on Thursday, the DGP said at least 250 volunteers each from all the 1,469 police stations across the state would be roped in as digital volunteers.
“This digital army will counter fake news being spread on social media by anti-social elements. Such rumours incite people of different communities and create law and order problem,” Singh said. He added that digital volunteers would help the police in curbing the spread of rumours at the initial stage itself.
“The plan has been initiated in view of the deaths of innocent people across the state as well the country due to false news and rumours being spread on WhatsApp and other social media platforms,” he said.
The DGP said the central government had written to messaging platform WhatsApp to take necessary action to curb fake news.
“UP Police is also ready with decisive steps to check the spread of rumours and fabricated stories on social media platforms,” he
added. Explaining the concept, the DGP said, “WhatsApp groups of police stations will be directly connected with the groups of district police. This in turn will be connected to the group of DGP headquarters. This will ensure accountability in the entire process. ”Singh said the UP police had uploaded a digital volunteer form on its website (www.uppolice.gov.in). “One can fill and submit it on website to become a part of groups,” he said.
The DGP said the selection of digital volunteers would be the sole discretion of a committee headed by district police chiefs (SSPs/ SPs of all the 75 districts).
He said the groups should have at least two volunteers from each village, town, ward and locality so that there was a suitable representation in the groups from each police station of the districts.
He said the selection committees would have additional SPs (crime), additional SPs, circle
officers and station houses officers concerned.
The DGP said the committees would select the members of these WhatsApp groups only after thorough deliberation and going through their bio data. “They should be influential, respected and peace-loving members of the society with a clean image,” he added.
“The primary task of the volunteers will be to counter rumour-mongering in their area . They will share the truth with the people and help the police in identifying the origin of fake news,” he added.
“If the government takes any initiative to check fake news, we have no objection to it. It’s a very sensitive issue,” said SP spokesman Abdul Hafiz Gandhi.
Cyber security expert Rakshit Tandon appreciated the move, “One can counter the trouble created by fake news only by using the same platform,” he said.