Kolkata, July 3 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday wrote a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah expressing concern over the “rising impact of social media content”, which, she pointed out, was increasingly posing serious challenges to public peace.

In the letter, a copy of which is available with IANS, the Chief Minister had also requested the Union Home Minister to introduce stringent legislative provisions that could act as an effective deterrent against the creation and dissemination of provocative content and acts perpetrated with criminal intent in cyberspace.

She pointed out that the current legal framework and its enforcement required further strengthening to keep pace with the rapidly-evolving digital ecosystem and the sophisticated methods employed by malicious actors.

“Equally important is the necessity of fostering widespread awareness regarding the responsible use and consumption of digital media. Many of our people remain unaware of the risks associated with consuming and sharing unverified content. This menace is increasingly spreading throughout the country,” the letter read.

In the letter, the Chief Minister also stressed the need for sensitisation programmes, digital literacy campaigns and community engagement initiatives to equip citizens with the tools to critically evaluate online information and out suspicious activities promptly.

The Chief Minister, in her letter, said that in recent times it was observed that incendiary narratives, misleading stories and fake videos were circulated on social media which contributed significantly to the aggravation of criminal tendencies among certain sections of society.

According to her, besides spreading misinformation, such posts might hurt religious sentiments prompting communal violence, thus disrupting societal harmony and leading to crimes against women.

The letter from the Chief Minister comes at a time when social media is flooded with criticisms of the West Bengal government and the Trinamool Congress over various issues like the cash-for-school job case, crimes against women amid the rape of a law college student within the institute’s premises last week and communal tension flaring up in different pockets of the state, among others.

–IANS

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