‘Misinformation leading to problems in society’

NEPS News Editor, Oken Jeet Sandham; Nagaland Governor, PB Acharya; IG (Range), Sonia Singh and NPA President, H Chishi  during the one day seminar on social media in Kohima on June 10. (Morung Photo)

NEPS News Editor, Oken Jeet Sandham; Nagaland Governor, PB Acharya; IG (Range), Sonia Singh and NPA President, H Chishi during the one day seminar on social media in Kohima on June 10. (Morung Photo)

Our Correspondent
Kohima | June 10

Nagaland State Governor, PB Acharya, along with top police officials and members of the press today stressed on the need to combat fake news and use social media carefully. 

Speaking at the one day seminar on social media organized by North East Press Service (NEPS) News Group here at Raj Bhavan, Sonia Singh IPS, IG (Range), Nagaland Police said that social media is not a stage to vent hatred and anger. 

“Do not circulate any fake news henceforth,” she said, urging people in the state to rather use the platform to bring in positive change. The IGP urged all to be careful and not circulate information without verifying the authenticity of the facts. 

Nagaland Press Association (NPA) President, H Chishi said that information and communication technology has changed quickly over the last twenty years with a key development being the emergence of social media.

Stating that information is power, he said “without a means of distributing information, people cannot harness power.” He observed that social media forwards a lot of “misinformation that leads to serious problems in society.”

He added that the advent of this platform has affected the lives of children and “people have almost stopped meeting each other as they can be connected through the social media sites the whole day. This has affected the face- to- face communication tradition among the people.” Further, Chishi said real activism has waned slowly, giving way to “slactivism.”

Concurrently, Chishi stressed that social media has also been an energizing tool for the masses across the world, adding that it has made connection possible between people from different corners. “Students have also become smarter due to social media as they are being exposed to a whole new world of technology through the tools of social media,” he said.

The Nagaland Governor meanwhile called upon people to use social media to enrich one’s knowledge and discover new things.

He stressed on the need to make the best use of social media to strengthen the villages, tribes and society as a whole. One should know the pros and cons of social media, he said, adding that it should be a tool to strengthen one’s goals and to empower oneself to empower the nation.

Acharya also suggested initiating social media awareness programmes in schools and colleges in the state. NEPS News Editor, Oken Jeet Sandham gave the concluding remarks of the seminar.