The other day, we have mentioned that social media is a double-edged sword. It is a powerful medium to express one’s views on any issue and at the same time, it has also become a platform to circulate fake news by vested interests without even verifying its authenticity.
More often than not, the news that goes viral is just a bundle of rumours deliberately made viral to embarrass or trouble some people.
Naturally, such fake news leads to apprehensions among the people and even causes disturbances in the society, as people tend to believe what is circulated in the social media.
Since Friday morning, a video of a person committing suicide by holding a live wire on a transformer and a photograph of a woman profusely bleeding with head injuries have been doing rounds in the social media.
The video and photograph are accompanied by a short message saying that a farmer of Amaravati had committed suicide by climbing a transformer and holding a live wire in protest against the shifting of the capital from Amaravati to Visakhapatnam.
And that the woman who was seen with bleeding injuries on the head, was actually injured was in the lathi-charge by the police while she was participating in the agitation.
As the video went viral, the blame game has begun immediately. The YSR Congress party said it was a fake video and blamed it on the social media wing of the TDP led by Nara Lokesh for making it viral to create unrest in the society and trouble the YSRC government.
The video apparently belonged to an incident at Madurai in Tamil Nadu on January 8. A man, who was unable to bear the death of his wife a few hours ago, attempted suicide by holding a live wire of a transformer. He was shifted to the government hospital where he is recuperating.
“The videos and photos being circulated in social media as farmer committed suicide for amaravathi and women bleeding as police beaten are completely fake. The video of suicide is from Tamil Nadu. The TDP people are spreading the same to create tension in Amaravati,” the YSRC said.
The TDP quickly reacted to the same and alleged that it was the handiwork of the YSRC social media wing to blame Chandrababu Naidu and the party. It appealed to the TDP followers not to believe the same and circulate it in the social media, thereby falling into the trap of YSRC.
The Amaravati farmers, who created their own social media group, also appealed to their group members not to circulate the video and degrade the movement.
