Kolkata: The police have decided to send notices to a number of social influencers and a section of social media users over a set of fake news that began to be circulated from Thursday.
According to police, one such fake forward is a photograph that purportedly shows former RG Kar principal Sanjib Ghosh sitting inside his office and celebrating a “birthday” with main accused Sanjay Roy who is “happily seen cutting a cake.” Cops said that the photograph is not of any civic volunteer or even that of Roy, but the personal data operator of Ghosh.“The incident dates back several weeks,” said a police source.
Similarly, a purported death certificate of the RG Kar doctor showing some fake signatures is doing the rounds. Cops said that the original copy has been kept secure with the family.
As of Thursday evening, 320 people, social media handle owners and entities have been summoned, several of them called for similar action in Bengal as what recently took place in Bangladesh, claimed sources.
Investigators have also discovered that multiple fake accounts of reputed news outlets are being created to spread misinformation, and efforts are underway to identify these as well.
“We have received complaints from the media outlets themselves and a number of forwards from concerned citizens. The VoIP addresses are being fixed up in this regard,” said a source.
“As the RG Kar incident’s protests intensified, so did the spread of misinformation on social media, leading to increasing confusion,” said an officer.
Lalbazar sources say, the old style of passing off old incidents as new has been discarded. Instead, AI is being used to change original videos. Even words are put in the mouths of social influencers, said a source.