Addressing the annual DGPs/IGPs conference in New Delhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has expressed concern over deterioration of the communal situation in the country and use of social media and other mode of communication to inflame tension. He termed use of social media to aggravate tension a new challenge before the country.
He attributed the exodus of northeast people form various towns of south and western India in the aftermath of ethnic riots in Assam to the impact of social media such and bulk SMSes and e-mails.
He stressed the need to devise strategies to counter the propaganda carried out by these new means however he cautioned that the freedom to express and communicate should not be curtailed during the process.