Another day and another fake letter found circulating on social media. This time it’s about the provision of as many as 2550 cars of the Atlas Honda to Pakistan’s armed forces for its staff.
The letter has been shared by many prominent personalities including some renowned journalists.
But, Pakistan’s Minister for Human Rights, Shireen Mazari, rejected the document as fake and squashed those who shared it.
“Oh for heaven sakes the letter is an obvious fake as well as an absurdity! But carry on if it allows a catharsis for some!,” tweeted Shireen Mazari.
Oh for heaven sakes the letter is an obvious fake as well as an absurdity! But carry on if it allows a catharsis for some! https://t.co/GVzwJiVWgN
— Shireen Mazari (@ShireenMazari1) October 10, 2018
Sources privy to the matter have also rejected the letter to be ‘nothing but a piece of garbage.’
“There are several things to notice about the letter. (a) The department mentioned in the letter does not deal with buying or selling of vehicles for the forces. (b) The department mentioned in the letter has no Brigadier under this name. (c) This level of operations requires a go-ahead from the higher rank officer in army’s chain of command,” informed the sources.
This is not the first time that social media warriors have attempted to manipulate the naive people of the country. Ever since the new government took control, the rumour mill has speeded up churning the fake news.
There has been news about government discontinuing Rs 5000 note, Maleeka Bukhari being appointed as the chairman of Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Youth Development Programm (BBSYDP), transfers of government officers and several others; all directed to malign the newly-formed government.
The attack was so harsh that the government had to set-up a dedicated Twitter account to counter the spread of false rumours with the help of edited pictures and documents.
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has created a Twitter account to tackle and expose Fake News, that are being spread on Social Media; citizens are requested to Follow the account !@FakeNews_Buster pic.twitter.com/9Me5aGlKFC
— PTI (@PTIofficial) October 1, 2018
I wonder who is the mastermind behind this propaganda.
Also, i see A LOT of genuine govt. twitter accounts posting letters sometimes, which are not on official letterhead, and only bear the reference number or the signature of the undersigned. Such kind of tweets/news by govt personnel is the reason why such fake letters are spread and then believed by everyone.
Every Government letter shared on twitter by an official person MUST bear some sort of identification which could verify it’s legitimacy.
QR codes in letters should exist. They can lead to the official site.
QR codes in letters should exist. They can lead to the official site.
One Official Websites must be needed to advised the people of real account, page, email Facebook etc of government department person etc