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Congress opens new social window wing

Taking a cue from the Congress conclave, Chintan Shivir, held in January, the UPA government is all set to have a new social media wing to counter campaigns that have gone viral online. Some of these campaigns against the party have created negative publicity especially after a string of corruption scams and the Delhi gangrape case surfaced. This move can be seen as an attempt for the party to focus on a makeover ahead of next year’s elections. It can be viewed as an attempt to cleanse the government’s tainted image, amid an upsurge of negative reports and criticism.

The social media wing will be a part of the information and broadcasting ministry. ‘It will regulate official content but it will not be indulging in either monitoring or censoring social media,’ said a source. Essentially this wing is expected to respond to trends and campaign which are being posted online by countering information which is put up online.

The Opposition has always had an active presence on social media, with Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi topping the charts with his regular tweets against the government. According to officials, this new wing under the ministry will ‘create content specifically designed for the new media - Facebook, Twitter, YouTube - and increase government presence in these platforms.’
Even though there are a number of Congress ministers who are using social media actively including the Prime Minister’s Office, this new media wing will be exclusively ‘dedicated’ to collating, integrating and regulating all official information.
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