Social media: DEF, students publicise safe use of info

Dimapur, Oct. 8 (EMN): The District Executive Force (DEF) of Wokha and students of Witter Theological College (WTC) organised a publicity programme on safe use of social media, on October 8, at the police point in Wokha town. A street play was the medium through which they used to try carrying to the public the message of the event, updates from the government bulletin DIPR stated on Monday. During the event, speakers including the principal of Witter Theological College told the gathering that people live in an era of technology with multiple media platforms that disseminate information. Such means of transmitting information at the macro level also means every possibility of untoward information such as rumours and other forms of false information, the public members were told. The message to them was that false information can create not only ‘terror and fear psychosis’ but cause misunderstanding, communal hatred and communal violence among people and communities. ‘Today, as responsible citizens, the need of the hour is to control the spread of false information and rumours, one of the ways to engage in nation building can be through healthy and transparent communication,’ the DIPR’s update stated. Students of Witter Theological College performed a street play based on the theme of ‘fake news on child lifting,’ ‘blackmail,’ and internet fraud. “The play touches on how our ancestors in the olden days believed in the communitarian way of life where unity, truthfulness, sharing of wealth and life and helping one another during good and bad times as well as even during cultivation were the ethos on which the society was based. Even in the lives of the young people, there exists the love of a communitarian life,” the DIPR update stated. Further through the street play, the people were requested to collectively participate in the fight against false information such as rumours that take place in the society.