Delhi police ‘fails’ to curb rumours on social media

New Delhi: The Delhi police has failed to curb rumours flying thick and fast on internet-based messaging application WhatsApp and social media websites like Twitter and Facebook in riot-hit northeast Delhi. Residents in the area say that they have been receiving several WhatsApp messages that talk of desecration of religious sites, reports of fresh violence and a possible mob attack in the wee hours of the night. All this has resulted in rising tensions in the already affected places.
A resident of Chand Bagh, who did not wish to be identified, told The Sunday Guardian on Thursday when this reporter visited the affected areas, “Last night (Wednesday), we received a message on our WhatsApp that around 100-150 people from a community is going to attack our colony in the night. We stayed up all night fearing about saving ourselves, but no one came. We have now erected temporary barricades near the entry points of our colony so that we become alert when such attacks happen.”
This particular neighbourhood has faced the brunt of the communal violence which has seen a school full on students being pelted with stones and window panes broken, school buses and cars burnt down and several houses and shops gutted in fire that was lit by miscreants who ran amok in the area. Residents from the Maujpur-Babarpur area have also complained about how messages are being forwarded and shared on WhatsApp about a temple being desecrated and some mosques burnt down.
Noor Qazi, a resident of the Maujpur-Babarpur area, told The Sunday Guardian, “I have got this WhatsApp forward that the Shiva statue near the cremation ground has been broken down, but this statue still remains there (pointing towards the Shiva statue outside the cremation ground). Such rumours are only going to fuel tensions here as this area has already seen many bloodshed and the worst violence. The government must do something to curb this violence.”
Even false information is being repeatedly shared on Twitter and Facebook about fresh attacks in some parts of Northeast district and this has kept the residents worried. Some residents near Brijpuri told this newspaper that fresh violence were being reported from the Shiv Vihar area in the Northeast district, but when reporters asked how did they come to know, they said that they have seen it on Facebook. Some fake videos of destruction and lathi-charge are being circulated on Facebook and Twitter, as “reports of fresh incidents”. “These rumours should stop immediately if everyone wants peace here. The police must take note of WhatsApp and social media so that such fake news and messages are stopped,” a shop owner from Brijpur road said. The Delhi Police on Friday, however, said that the police is constantly monitoring social media and will take strict legal action against those found indulging in such activities. The police has also issued a helpline number 155260 to report all such circulated messages and videos.
With inputs from Abhinandan Mishra and Pratyush Deep Kotoky