TN Police to monitor fake news, hate messages on social media

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Police have formed a ‘social media committee’ comprising 203 trained police personnel who will monitor spread of fake news, hate messages and cyber criminals.

An official statement from the office of the Director General of Police said that the teams will be spread across the 9 city police Commissionerate and 37 districts across the State.

The team will be headed by the Superintendent of Police, cyber-crime wing. The personnel have been selected based on their proficiency in computers and cyber forensics, police said.

With incidents of hate crimes fuelled by fake news and rumours spread through social media platforms like Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, it is imperative that such posts are not allowed to be spread and nipped in the bud, police said adding that severe action will be taken against those spreading fake news.

“The internet has also become a place where transactions and deals for other serious crimes such as drug peddling, fraud take place. So, monitoring social media has become necessary, ” a release said.