CM interacts with social media admins

Imphal, November 2, 2019 (DIPR): Chief Minister Shri N. Biren Singh had a candid interaction with the administrators of different social media groups/pages to explore ways for constructive use of social media today. A total of around 140 groups/pages operating on Apps like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Youtube etc. participated in the interactive session that lasted around two and half hours.

Speaking at the interactive session, Shri N. Biren Singh appreciated the contribution of social media groups/pages in maintaining communal harmony, promoting national integration and freedom of expression. However, he expressed concern over the unregulated use of social media for spreading hate posts, unverified and fake news.

Stating that Manipur is like a mini-India being populated by people of different communities, Shri N. Biren Singh said that administrators of social media groups/pages need to keep strict vigil of the posts uploaded by group members because even a slight misrepresentation of facts may sometimes create huge communal flare-ups.

During the interactive session, regulation of posts and promotion of events, personality, thoughts and beliefs on social media was thoroughly discussed. The participants commonly opined that there is a need to regulate social media with a view to weed out posts with malicious intent and anti-national tones.

Moreover, the participants also raised matters like need for self-regulation, registration with a registering authority, restriction to a single administrator for a group to ensure accountability, etc. It was also suggested that schools, colleges and educational institutes should be mobile-free zone. It was decided that the State Government would explore scope for intervening into issues concerning existence of multiple groups with the same group name. Some participants suggested that keeping unique group names would reduce confusion amongst public. The need to verify fake accounts was stressed upon, apart from pointing out that members of a group should understand the aim and objective of the group while posting updates and information.

Contact details of cyber crime unit were also circulated to the participants to enable timely reporting cyber crime. Various provisions of Information Technology Act, 2000 and relevant sections of IPC were briefed by the Cyber Crime Unit of Manipur Police.

Chief Secretary and DGP, Editors of various print and electronic media houses also attended the session, which was the first of its kind in the State’s history.