Rumour Mongering

The top 100 listed companies will now have to confirm, deny, or verify reports in the media from June 1, while the timeline for the top 250 listed companies has been moved to December

In a bid to ensure sustained social stability, security officials across China have shut down 34,000 online accounts for spreading rumours and punished more than 6,300 people since the start of a crackdown campaign in April. Over 4,800 cases have been handled, with more than 6,300 people punished, Li Tong, an official with the Ministry of Public Security said. Officials across the country have shut down 34,000 online accounts for spreading rumours, Li said. To ensure social stability, the ministry has decided to carry out a yearlong crackdown on online rumours spanning 2024, Li told the media here on Friday. The campaign will employ multiple measures to make sure it is effective and delivers solid outcomes, he said. In 2023, Chinese police have also taken strong measures against criminal acts of cyber violence such as online smearing, insulting and privacy infringement, handling 110 cases so far, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Misinformation and fake news spread quickly on social media, ducking even the trained eyes. It also sees a drastic jump during the elections. Our next report finds out more about the age-old menace

Media reports about mass exodus of migrant workers amid the third wave of the pandemic were untrue and states have been asked to be wary of rumour mongering

Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, in a letter to chief secretaries of all states and union territories, has asked for an appropriate mechanism to be put in place to check the spread of ill-informed rumours

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday refuted reports of withdrawal of old series of Rs 100, Rs 10 and Rs 5 currency notes. "With regard to reports in certain sections of media on withdrawal of old series of Rs 100, Rs 10 & Rs 5 banknotes from circulation in near future, it is clarified that such reports are incorrect," the RBI said in a tweet. While announcing the issuance of new Rs 100 denomination banknotes with base colour Lavender in July 2018, RBI had said banknotes in the denomination of Rs 100 issued by it in the earlier series will continue to be legal tender.

The rapidity with which the rumours of child-lifting or braid-chopping a year ago were disseminated and the readiness with which people were willing to act on them point to high public anxiety levels