Calling out the opposition for spreading negativity, lies and hate on social media for their petty political gains, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that social media is a powerful tool which must be used to spread awareness and positivity rather than spreading fallacious information.

“Social media has become a powerful instrument of democracy. It must be used as a weapon to counter fake news and statements immediately in order to avoid conflicts that are made up to satisfy selfish motives,” the Chief Minister said while addressing a workshop of BJP IT and Social Media Cell in the state capital on Friday.

Emphasizing on the importance of social media for good governance, the Chief Minister said that as social media is the fastest growing form of media which is also the fourth pillar of a democratic nation, it should be used in a way to build a better interactive bridge between the government and the citizens.

“Social media connects people at ground-level, in order to spread awareness, videos of people who have availed benefits of government schemes must be uploaded to promote them further,” he stated.

Yogi Adityanath further asserted that the opposition leaders, desperate to regain lost political ground, are solely engaged in political stunts to topple the efficient working of the government instead of educating and making people aware of issues in reality.

“Those who are presenting themselves as ‘well wishers’ of farmers and are disturbing the peace of the nation must know that over 45 lakh sugarcane farmers in UP have been paid a record cane price payment of more than Rs 1,40,000 crore,” said the CM adding that, “We must work as a team and make people aware of our achievements through social media to put an end to fake statements.”

Lashing out at the opposition for creating fake scenarios on social media, the Chief Minister asked people to be more alert and cautious of what they read and share.

Yogi also said that people should first check when they receive a news on social media before forwarding it to others.

“The fashion of forwarding needs to be solved with technology,” he added.

Highlighting the importance of social media and its presence, the Chief Minister concluded that we cannot separate ourselves from it, hence, it must be used in an effective way to influence lives positively.