Coronavirus: Stop fake news, trolling and racial slurs

Politicians and several organisations on Monday appealed against spreading fake news and online trolling at a time when the country is facing an unprecedented crisis due to the spread of COVID-19.

Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien said the need of the hour is to focus on the needs of people instead of trolling and spreading fake news.

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"We are in a national crisis. Citizen and government, centre and states, all parties and institutions: we are in this together. In such a critical hour, disappointing to see the usual trolls resort to fake news the lowest level of political propaganda. Please desist at least till COVID-19 is defeated. Let's all focus on taking care of those who need it most," he said in a statement.

Separately, a clutch of social organisations, including Delhi Solidarity Group (DSG), National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), National Fishworkers’ Forum (NFF) and Pakistan India People’s Forum for Peace & Democracy (PIPFPD), also issued an appeal against racial hate crimes following a number of incidents reported about targeting people from the north-east during this period.

"Besides fear, uncertainty and overwhelming shortages of food and medical resources, the Coronavirus global pandemic is also accompanied by numerous instances of bigotry and racism across the world against East and South East Asians. With some regimes opting to deliberately refer to it as the ‘Chinese’ virus, one cannot miss the invisible conservative state approval of this cruelty," they said in a statement.

"They are politically appropriated as Indians and socially ostracized for not being ‘Indian’ enough. Even the Tibetan community, provided legitimate political asylum by India and the Nepalese migrant workers, are victims of this racial targeting. The times of Corona seem to have made matters worse, with multiple reports of physical and verbal abuse and racial profiling coming from Gujarat, Pune, Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai and Dehradun, to name a few of the major cities," they said.

The organisations said people from the Northeast, including University students, have reported that they have been called ‘Chinese’, ‘Corona’ and other racial slurs. There have also been instances when those with distinctly Mongoloid features have been spat at by miscreants from moving vehicles, they said.

"There are also social media messages that are circulated about how the virus is an outcome of the eating habits of people of East or South East Asian origin. It is no surprise people believe what they see on social media when the Prime Minister himself quotes from fake news in the Parliament. We condemn such messages and urge the governments to take strict action against those who are indulging in such racial abuse using social media," they said.

The organisations asked central and state governments to show "no tolerance against offenders" while addressing the racial prejudices within the police department and paramilitary forces. They also urged citizens to intervene when members of the community are being harassed and intimidated.

The appeal was also endorsed by All India Union of Forest Working People (AIUFWP), Muslim Women’s Forum (MWF), Aman Biradari, Common Teachers Forum, ANHAD, National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR), Social Security Now (SSN), People’s Watch and Human Rights Defenders Alert - India.