Manipur Violence: State govt to take action against those peddling fake news

The Manipur government has warned that no person will be immune to prosecution under the laws of the country if he/she is found to be generating or spreading fake news, lies, rumours or misinformation, the state’s chief secretary said.

The state government shall not hesitate to act as per law, against those persons found to be generating or sharing or publishing any wrong information which can worsen the current law and order situation in Manipur.

“Whereas, a number of individuals in responsible positions with large followings on social media have been observed to be directly involved in generating and/or sharing information in connection with the ongoing law & order situation in the State of Manipur, whereas, many of such information have been found to be fake news, lies, rumours or misinformation,” Dr. Vineet Joshi, Chief Secretary, Manipur stated.


The generation of such wrong information has the potential to worsen the current situation in the state by misguiding public opinion, instigating violence and rebelling against the authority of the state with or without the use of arms, leading to death of human lives, casualties on bodies and destruction and damage of properties will amount to sedition, Joshi said an order statement.

It said no person will be immune to prosecution under the laws of the country if he/she is found to be generating or spreading fake news, lies, rumours or misinformation, it said.

Acting individually or on behalf of any group of persons, based within the state or outside, everyone “shall verify any information before sharing or publishing on any social media platform or through any medium, by means of any tool whatsoever, physical, virtual, audio-visual or electronic,” it added.