COVID-19: Kerala police launch 'cyber patrols' to stop fake news

Kerala police has launched 'cyber patrolling' a strict vigil on social media platforms to find out those spreading false news regarding the virus. Director-General of Police Loknath Behera said that not just creating fake news but sharing it is also a crime.

Thiruvananthapuram: While Kerala's COVID-19 graph continued to scale up with record number of cases, the state police has launched 'cyber patrolling', a strict vigil on social media platforms to find out those spreading false news regarding the virus.

Director-General of Police Loknath Behera has warned of stern legal action against those spreading lies through online platforms regarding the pandemic outbreak.

There is a lot of inauthentic and unscientific stuff being propagated by some people about COVID-19 through social media, he said. "Not just creating such fake news but sharing it is also a crime," the DGP said here.

As an increase in the number of such instances came to the notice, the hi-tech crime inquiry cell at the police headquarters and the Cyber Dome, a centre for excellence for Kerala Police in cyber security, has been instructed to carry out a strict cyber patrol on social media to apprehend those who are creating and sharing such false news and messages, Behera added.

Kerala's active cases soared to 1.98 lakh on Saturday as the state reported 26,685 fresh cases, 73 of them are health workers, according to the state government.

PTI