“Organise a steam week to stave off the threat posed by COVID-19 as the virus that spread the disease will get killed on inhaling steam at 70 degrees Celsius. This easy cure is known to the health authorities but they will not tell us,” goes a WhatsApp post in a group.
As the second wave of the pandemic rages, the social media has once again gone berserk with forwards of all hues ranging from the personal experiences of the infected to doomsday predictions and unverified and unscientific cures.
Seized of the potential pandemonium that social media can unleash during an atmosphere surcharged with the fear of the pandemic, the police are combing the virtual world for scaremongering and mischievous posts.
“From what we have seen so far, at least 80% of social media posts are narrations of health and medical professionals about the consequences of the pandemic and the personal experiences of the ones infected. With new mutants of the virus evolving about which little is known, there is also the challenge of not being able to conclusively verify or deny many accounts,” said ADGP Manoj Abraham, who is also the nodal officer of the Kerala Police Cyberdome.
20 cases registered
The Cyberdome continues to comb the social media with tools that throw up the pandemic-related posts using the relevant search keys. Since the onset of the second wave, 20-odd cases have been registered against social media posts found serious and damaging, including posts passing off mass cremations from elsewhere as happening in Kerala.
“We invoke IPC Section 153 (wantonly causing provocation with intent to cause riot) and relevant Sections of the IT Act. In the case of a more benign variant of posts mostly born out of ignorance, we ask them to take them down,” said Mr. Abraham.
Special wing
The Ernakulam Rural Police have formed a special wing to monitor the social media. “Last year, we registered around 25 cases. During the second wave, we haven’t yet come across any serious transgressions but mostly harmless ones. Wherever found necessary, we intervene and communicate with the social media group admins concerned and even social media platforms,” said K. Karthik, District Police Chief (Ernakulam Rural).
The cyber police sources, who have infiltrated some WhatsApp groups, said that even forwards related to the pandemic had assumed political overtones.
“For instance, the biggest back and forth going on in groups now is over the vaccine drive. Respective camp followers of the Central and State governments bombard groups with forwards putting the blame on each other for the disrupted vaccination drive,” an officer said.
