Bhubaneswar, October 9: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Friday announced plans to formulate an effective social media policy for government communication, establish a seamless digital information network linking district offices with the State headquarters, and introduce a robust fact-checking mechanism to counter misinformation and rumours.

Gracing an orientation programme organised by the Information and Public Relations (I&PR) Department for the Odisha Information Service (OIS) officers on emerging social media trends at Lok Seva Bhawan’s Convention Centre, Majhi stressed the need to strengthen digital communication in line with the demands of the digital age.

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“Keeping in view the demands in the digital age, a comprehensive and effective social media policy will be formulated for information and communication. A seamless digital information and communication mechanism will be developed within the Information and Public Relations Department, extending from the district level to the State headquarters. A robust fact-checking system will also be implemented to counter misinformation and rumours circulating through digital platforms,” said Majhi.

The Chief Minister advised the information officers to adapt to contemporary technological trends, observing that today’s younger generation is far ahead of the existing traditional media platform in the age of social media and artificial intelligence.

“Therefore, Government communication mechanism must also embrace these modern and evolving trends,” said Majhi.

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Referring to the major challenges posed by artificial intelligence, the Chief Minister observed that deepfakes, cloned voices and artificially generated videos have emerged as significant threats to society. He cautioned that false news often spreads rapidly before the truth comes to light.

On this occassion, the Chief Minister also launched ‘e-Sanchar App’ for transparent and accountable advertisement management and released the annual magazine “Loka Sampark”, published by the Information Service Association.

Chief Secretary Anu Garg, Additional Chief Secretary (I&PR) Hemant Sharma, Director Sanjay Kumar Biswal and PIB ADG Akhil Kumar Mishra, among others graced the programme.