The Maharashtra Cyber Cell has observed a spike in COVID related cheating cases, hate speech and fake posts in the last week, with 466 cases being recorded in this period out of the total 1,121 cases across the cyber police stations in the state.
Police have advised netizens to surf safely and not fall prey to cyber fraud.
Police said that of the total 1,121 cases registered in connection to the fake news and hate speech in the state, over 1,055 were registered as cognizable offences while 66 were non-cognizable (NC).
The cyber police made a total of 367 arrests, wherein 1,049 were identified, and notices were issued to them under the Criminal Procedure Code.
The Maharashtra cyber police have made 367 arrests since the pandemic began for spreading fake news, rumours and hate speech in cyberspace.
The state cyber police in the last week itself reported 466 cases of hate speech and communal crimes over social media. The officials suspect that the sudden spike to have surfaced because of the upcoming elections.
The state cyber police have made four teams for monitoring including desk, intelligence, coordination committee and awareness team, which works 24x7 to keep an eye out on the anti-social elements on the web.
The Maharashtra cyber cell has given takedown notices to relevant social media platforms, wherein 138 posts were removed from cyberspace.
Ever since the pandemic began in the country, several offensive posts including fake news have been uploaded online, of which 409 were shared on WhatsApp, 394 on Facebook, 28 on TikTok, 26 on Twitter and 76 on Instagram, said police.
