Karnataka Government must block social media messages with communal overtones

Bengaluru: The social media has always been under the radar for fake news, often with an intent to communalise sensitive issues.

The latest to flood social media like WhatsApp was communal turn given to alleged bed allotment scam in hospitals by BJP Bengaluru South MP Tejaswi Sruya and two party MLAs by pointing to employment of 17 Muslims in the COVID war room set up by BBMP.

The young MP went on to wonder if the room was a Haj House or a madrasa. This lead to several Whatsapp forwards targeting the Muslim community.

On Thursday, renowned environmentalist Vijay Nishanth demanded action against the persons circulating messages with a communal undertone.

In his letter to Commissioner of Police Kamal Pant, he lamented that at a time when reports of people dying due to inadequate heath infrastructure a section of people are circulating rumours and fake messages on WhatsApp and other social media pages such as Facebook, Twitter etc, stating that about l6 people belonging to one particular religion are working in Control Room of BBMP are terrorist/jihadis and are responsible for killing thousands of people in Bengaluru.

"The said messages also further blamed Joint Commissioner of BBMP Sarfaraz Khan for employing them.

Apart from WhatsApp and other social media platforms, electronic media has also broadcast news that there were several Muslim youths employed as telecallers in BBMP Control Room for allocation of beds for people affected by COVID-19 virus and they deliberately blocked beds creating a shortage for BBMP quota patients," the complaint read.

Nishanth told The Hans India that such messages were being deliberately circulated to create enmity between communities.

"Such aspersions when created on the officials based on religion will demoralize them. I want the police to track those circulating these messages on social media," Nishanth said.