August 11, 2018
Kolkata Police creates short film on ‘fake news’
Kolkata Police has created a short film to spread awareness on the menace of ‘fake news’. On social media specially, the appearance of fake news items, be it a news clipping, a (morphed or edited) picture, an infographic, a video, an audio clip, has acquired a disturbing regularity. The short film by Kolkata Police assumes a lot of significance on this background.
In the video an office-goer and a youth are seen waiting at a bus-stop. The youth asks the office-goer why there was no bus on that particular route. In reply, the office-goer says that they would not get any bus there as he has received a phone call from one of his colleagues saying that some communal trouble had started at the Moulali-Mallick Bazar area. The office-goer then leaves the bus-stop, saying that he has to reach office on foot.
Right at that moment the youth receives a call from another friend, whom he tells over phone that he was yet to get a bus due to ‘communal tension’ at Moulali-Mallick Bazar. The friend immediately says that there is a need to give an update on social media.
After the telephonic conversation, the youth decides to cross-check with a pedestrian whether there was really any trouble at Moulali-Mallick Bazar. The pedestrian replies that there was no trouble as such.
Realising the enormity of the trouble that he was going to cause by sharing the wrong information on social media, he feels ashamed with himself. This is the lesson that Kolkata Police is trying to give.
At the end of the 1.08 minute-long video, a message appears which reads thus: ‘Do not post anything on social media without confirming an input you may have received. It may lead to confusion, tension and/or unrest. Do not share such posts either. It is a punishable offence.’
It may be mentioned that Kolkata Police often posts various messages on social networking sites to make people aware of the adverse effects of circulating wrong information.
Source: Millennium Post
