Mamata, Abhishek voice stand against fake news in digital conclave

Kolkata: "Whenever you come across any fake news you should counter it with proper information and inform the police and our digital cell so that action can be taken immediately. We would have to ensure that no wrong information gets circulated. One of the best ways to counter such false propaganda is providing the right information to the people," Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Monday while addressing the digital conclave of Trinamool Congress through an audio message.

It was English philosopher Francis Bacon who had said for the first time that knowledge is power. Bacon had realised in the 16th century that information is a major source of power.

Trinamool Congress on Monday took a giant stride to embark on a path of digital revolution with party supremo Mamata Banerjee instructing her youth brigade to take to social media platforms, to counter the spreading of fake news by BJP.

In recent times there have been instances when such fake news on social media had resulted in disturbance in some parts of the state.

The Chief Minister has instructed the party's digital team to create a data bank of people, particularly of the youth brigade, who are found to be well versed in digital media. "Let there be a healthy competition and those who will work well on social media platforms will be awarded," Banerjee said.

She further warned against posting any wrong information through the platform and stressed upon the use of Hindi language on social networking platforms to cater to a larger population.

Taking cue from the Chief Minister, the president of the party's youth wing Abhishek Banerjee stated a plan to build an arsenal of 'digital warriors' to garner more support for the ruling party, while speaking at the conclave.

"We are looking at 100 dedicated cyber experts for each seat in the 294 member Assembly. This will result in three lakh cyber warriors who would have the potential to garner one crore or 12 percent additional votes for Trinamool Congress," Banerjee said.

Explaining the path through which the task can be achieved, he said: "If you can convince only eight people per month who have been misguided and are planning to switch over to any other party and bring them on the development path of TMC, 12 percent additional votes could be realised," he said, adding that through this method the present vote bank of 3 crore voters can be raised to 4 crore.

"We are depending on you (the digital warriors) and you must work to strengthen the party to win all 42 seats in the state," Banerjee said.

He advised the youth wing to work with dedication on social media to attract the attention of the top brass, instead of taking selfies with leaders.

He announced that soon another such conclave will be organised on a large scale at Netaji Indoor Stadium, in which he will personally request the Chief Minister to attend and address.