While the country is fighting the pandemic, government bodies are trying their level best to bring the pandemic under control, this present crisis has affected the lifeline of the country. Several Police Departments are working 24×7 to educate the citizens and help them during this time. The Maharashtra Police took to Twitter to spread such awareness about the novel coronavirus outbreak. As always, the Department has come up with creative and witty tweets.
The official twitter handle of Maharashtra Police shared a graphic with the nursery rhyme, Johnny, Johnny, Yes Papa, written on it. However, they gave it a coronavirus twist. The text on the image read, “Johnny Johnny, Yes Papa. Going out? No Papa. Sharing forwards? No Papa. Wash your hands? Ya ya ya.”
“Johnny is not telling lies for once! Be like Johnny. #StayHomeStaySafe,” Maharashtra Police wrote in the caption.
Maharashtra Police’s creative tweet sheds light on some essential aspects that one must follow during the novel coronavirus outbreak. Stepping out of home is a strict no, until absolutely necessary. Spreading fake news and unverified forwarded messages is another activity one must refrain from. Furthermore, washing hands frequently is of utmost importance to keep the novel coronavirus at bay.
The creative tweet struck their followers who dropped in several comments to express their thoughts on it. “OMG… Very fantastic, fabulous… superb creativity,” a user wrote. “Hahaha… nice message thanks,” wrote another user.
Fake Message
Meanwhile, the State Police Special Inspector General of Police, Maharashtra Cyber has released an advisory tweeted by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s special Twitter account @COVIDNewsbyMIB
The advisory says that it is “advisable that if the group is uncontrollable”, group settings should be changed so that only admins can post. If, despite this setting, messages that are “fake, insulting any religion, spreading hatred, bigotry messages which may create communal tensions” are sent on the group, the admins/ group owners “would be solely held liable”, the advisory warns.
Group admins have to ensure that “every group member is reliable and responsible enough to share only verified news”. How a WhatsApp admin can carry out that kind of due diligence remains to be seen. Group admins are also supposed to check the source and veracity of every message before posting it on the group. They should also inform all group members about the rules of posting in the group. New members who are being added to the group should also be made aware of following rules and regulations. Group admins are also supposed to “actively and regularly monitor” content on the group and “warn” and “prevent” members from sharing objectionable content.
General users are not supposed to post “fake news, hate speech or misinformation in groups” or “further forwards or circulate any such news” that they may get from other members. They are further supposed to delete any post that they find objectionable, or have been notified as objectionable by the admin. Group admins are expected to inform the police “if any member resort to mischief and share objectionable content”.
Messages with fake news, misinformation or hate speech must be reported to the group admin, and should either be reported to www.cybercrime.gov.in, or to the nearest police station.
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