Thiruvananthapuram: At a time when Kerala's COVID-19 graph continued to scale up with record number of cases, the state police has launched 'cyber patrolling', a strict vigil on social media platforms to find out those spreading false news regarding the virus.
"Strict action will be taken against all those who are found to be spreading fake news regarding COVID-19," state police chief Loknath Behara.
Several misinformation videos and posts regarding COVID-19 is being spread through social media. There is a lot of inauthentic and unscientific stuff being propagated by some people about COVID-19 through social media, he said.
"Not just creating such fake news but sharing it also is a crime," the DGP said here.
As an increasing number of such instances came to the notice, the hi-tech crime inquiry cell at the police headquarters and the Cyber Dome, a centre for excellence for Kerala Police in cyber security, have been instructed to carry out strict cyber patrol on social media to apprehend those who were creating and sharing such false news and messages, Behera added.
Kerala's active cases soared to 1.98 lakh on Saturday as the state reported 26,685 fresh cases, 73 of them health workers, according to the state government.
