Chittagong District Police Take Proactive Steps to Curb Social Media Rumors.

Jahangir Alam, ​Staff Reporter. ​Chittagong District Police have adopted a proactive strategy to identify and prevent rumors on social media before they spread, shifting away from reacting only after misinformation goes viral. To this end, strict directives have been issued to boost the activity of the cyber monitoring team and establish an integrated mechanism for rapid fact-checking and official news dissemination. ​The directives were given on Tuesday during an online review meeting titled "Actions to be Taken by the Cyber Team to Prevent Rumors on Social Media," chaired by Superintendent of Police (SP) Md. Masud Alam. Senior police officials and members of the district cyber monitoring team attended the meeting. ​During the session, SP Masud Alam highlighted that vested interest groups might attempt to disrupt communal harmony and destabilize law and order ahead of the upcoming Durga Puja by sharing archived, misleading, or fabricated photos, videos, and information. In light of these concerns, the police chief emphasized round-the-clock, stringent monitoring of the digital space. ​Police officials present stressed the immediate verification of the authenticity, source, and context of any content circulating online. Concurrently, instructions were issued to swiftly release accurate and objective facts through mainstream news media and official police platforms to counter misleading narratives. ​Additionally, Chittagong District Police urged responsible citizens to exercise caution while using social media platforms and refrain from sharing any unverified information or rumors without proper fact-checking.