Negative narrative

Rajnath Singh said anti-national elements have been trying to foment tension

Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Monday that anti-national elements have been trying to foment tension in the society by posting unverified information on social media and asked people not to forward such messages without verification. Singh, after launching the intelligence wing of the Sahastra Seema Bal (SSB), told the jawans that information and news, that was completely wrong or having no basis, was being regularly circulated on social media such as WhatsApp and many people consider it to to be true. Some days back, Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah had also cautioned supporters not to trust all that they read on the social media. The BJP has used social media, particularly WhatsApp, effectively in its election campaigns but there are indications of increasingly negative social media narrative against the Narendra Modi government in the wake of poor economic growth and steep petrol and diesel prices.