Media to avoid circulation of unverified news relating to covid-19

Shimla: The state government is taking appropriate action to curb the circulation of fake/unverified news relating to COVID-19 in Print, Electronic and Social Media causing panic in the society.
Secretary, Information and Public Relations Rajneesh while reviewing the work being done by the Fake News Monitoring Unit constituted under the chairmanship of the Director of Information and Public Relations Department, informed that important information related to prevention of COVID-19 is being disseminated by the media to make the people aware of it.
He urged the media not to publish any unverified news relating to COVID-19 keeping in view the directions given by the Supreme Court of India, the copy of which has already been circulated to them, so that people do not have to face any kind of problem. He said that the Press Council of India has also advised the media to avoid circulation of such news.
He requested the media to ensure circulation of verified information related to COVID-19, so that no panic is caused in the society. He said that action would be taken to remove the unverified information being circulated in social media.
Earlier, Director Information & Public Relations and Chairman, Fake News Monitoring Unit, Harbans Singh Brascon held a meeting with the members of the unit and emphasized the need to comply with the directions issued by Central Government to curb the circulation of fake news related to COVID-19.
Harbans Singh Brascon said that all members of the Monitoring Unit have been asked to keep a watch on circulation of unverified and misleading news related to coronavirus being published or telecast in various media so that appropriate decision could be taken.
He said that an e-mail ID [email protected] has been created as per the decision taken by the Monitoring Unit, so that people could register complaints about the circulation of unverified information related to COVID-19.
Members of the Fake News Monitoring Unit Superintendent of Police (Cyber ??Crime) Sandeep Dhawal, Joint Director Health and Family Welfare Dr. Vinod Sharma, Joint Director IT Anil Semwal, Joint Director of Information and Public Relations Department Pradeep Kunwar, Mahesh Pathani, Deputy Directors Dharmender Singh and UC Kaundal and IT Manager HP Secretariat Kishore Sharma were also present in the meeting. /(April 5)