The District Magistrate of Varanasi recently issued administrative orderstating that an administrator of a group on WhatsApp or Facebook is “liable for prosecution if any rumour or fake news is circulated.”
Fake news has been in the news a lot these past few months, coming to prominence in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s election and the rioting in Jammu and Kashmir.
District Magistrate Yogeshwar Ram Mishra and Senior Superintendent of Police, Nitin Tiwari are reported to have issued the order, which states that any fake news, rumour or misleading bit of information spread on social media could lead to an FIR (First Information Report) against the group’s administrator, reports PTI.
As reported by PTI, the order apparently states that group admins should be prepared to bear responsibility for posts on the group, that any fake news, rumour, etc., needs to be reported to the police as soon as possible and that only those members personally known to the administrator must be included.
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