Team Herald
PANJIM: The Goa Police on Thursday issued an advisory regarding responsibility every WhatsApp user and admin should take amidst COVID-19 outbreak.
“It is noticed that during the present coronavirus crisis the social media platforms such as WhatsApp, etc is used to spread a lot of fake news misinformation and hate speech messages. In view of this, the admins of the group and every user of social media platforms, are advised to use the platform responsibly,” the advisory states.
The department has urged to not post, share, forward, disseminate any message content, pictures or photos, videos that could promote enmity on grounds of religion, nationality, race and other grounds of discrimination or disrupt public order, decency and morality. It has warned of legal action under various sections of the law for committing the offense.
It is to be noted that this advisory is on the same lines as that of Maharashtra police.
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WHAT YOU SHOULD DO AS A MEMBER OF GROUPS IN MESSAGING PLATFORMS
+ Do not post fake news, hate speech or misinformation in groups
+ Do not further forward or circulate any such news you get from other members of the group
+ Immediately delete any post, if you find it objectionable or notify the admin
+ Check the source and veracity of any news/image/video/meme you receive, before posting it on the group
+ If you find any piece of misinformation, fake news or hate speech, report it on www.cybercrime.gov.in or to your nearest police station, and also inform your group admin immediately
+ Never share any content that is violent, pornographic and discriminative against any religion/community
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WHAT YOU SHOULD DO AS AN ADMIN OF MESSAGING PLATFORMS
+ Ensure that every group member is reliable and responsible enough to share only verified news
+ Inform all members about the rules of posting in the group
+ Warn all the members and prevent them from sharing objectionable content
+ Actively and regularly monitor content that is being shared on the group
+ It is advisable that if the group is uncontrollable, then the group settings can be changed to only where admins have the right to post
+ Inform the police if any members resort to mischief and share objectionable content
