Social media can be poison, CM warns

Patna: Chief minister Nitish Kumar is worried over the misuse of social media, even though he is part of the NDA which believes in harnessing the power of the virtual world to communicate with the masses.

Nitish on Wednesday cautioned that rampant misuse of social media was damaging the social fabric and creating law and order problems.

“Social media has become very important, but what is happening? People write whatever they want. They write bad things which lead to a row…. This has to be controlled,” the chief minister said.

He was speaking after inaugurating a national seminar on “Veer Kunwar Singh and 1857” at Bapu Sabhagar here in the state capital. Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, art, culture and youth affairs minister Krishna Kumar Rishi, industries minister Jai Kumar Singh, Rajya Sabha member and JDU state president Bashishtha Narayan Singh, chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh, art, culture and youth department principal secretary Chaitanya Prasad and several others were present on the occasion.

Though the event was about celebrating a hero from the past, Nitish flagged worries of the present and the future. “Recently, there has been a trend of negativity on social media. It has caused fights and fracas and we have to remain constantly alert to control them,” he said.

Nitish in his usual style did not make any direct mention, but it was obvious that that he was referring to the unbridled hate messages and rumours on various social media platforms that added – and in some cases created – tension leading to flare-ups in at least eight districts of the state earlier this year.

The administration shut down Internet services in the districts to curb the circulation of hate messages and blatant falsehoods and rumours on social media that would invariably lead to escalation of situation.

Nitish on Wednesday exhorted people to use social media for positive things instead. He also joked about messages getting “viral”, and pointed that only diseases were viral – a joke that may seem jaded to the WhatsApp generation.

The chief minister also asked the people not to go overboard with latest technologies as they are leaving their adverse effects on the society.

“I saw a one-and-a-half-year-old child playing with a mobile phone. Parents become happy that their tiny tots know how to use cellphones. They do not foresee that the child will forget them and keep remain engrossed in the gadget,” Nitish said.

The chief minister also mentioned scientist Stephen Hawkins’ prophesy that human beings on earth will survive only for 200 more years.

“I think it would be even less than that,” Nitish added.

He also wondered aloud about the adverse impact of microwaves from mobile phones across the planet.

Courtesy: The Telegraph