Kerala police crack down on fake social media campaigns against disaster relief fund

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 1 (PTI) The Kerala police on Thursday registered 14 FIRs against social media accounts that campaigned against donating to the Chief Minister's Disaster Relief Fund, following the Wayanad landslide incidents.
    The State Police Media Centre (SPMC) said here that 194 such posts were found on social media, and notices were sent to social media platforms to remove them.
    Out of the 14 FIRs registered across the state, four are in Thiruvananthapuram City, two each in Kochi city and Palakkad and one each in Kollam city, Ernakulam Rural, Thrissur City, Malappuram, Wayanad, and Thiruvananthapuram Rural, it said in a release here.
    Police said to monitor fake campaigns against the Chief Minister's Disaster Relief Fund, cyber patrolling on social media has been intensified.
    "Legal action will be taken against those creating and sharing such posts," the police warned.
    The social media campaign was launched after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had called upon everyone to contribute to the Chief Minister's Disaster Relief Fund (CMDRF) in order to help those affected by the landslides.
    Meanwhile, the office of Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, V D Satheesan, filed a complaint with the state police chief against a fake social media campaign that claimed he had appealed to not contribute to the Chief Minister's Disaster Relief Fund in the wake of the Wayanad disaster.

    The complaint states that such fake campaigns are being carried out with the ulterior motive of creating political divisions among the people when the state is unitedly facing a disaster.

    It demands immediate legal action against those who created and spread fake news in the name of the opposition leader.
    The massive landslides struck Kerala's Wayanad district on Tuesday morning, killing at least 177 people and injuring many. With nearly 200 people missing, the death toll is expected to rise.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)