Bengaluru: It was around 9 in the night. It was only minutes before news anchors and channels were getting ready to debate and discuss a pre-selected topic. 

But a tweet from none other than the Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself sent shock waves across the nation, and not exaggeratedly, the entire globe! 

The PM’s tweet came as a bolt from the blue, turning everything topsy-turvy. 

He tweeted thus: "This Sunday, thinking of giving up my social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & YouTube. Will keep you all posted."

 

But what on earth make the PM issue such a tweet? 

Well, rumour mills are agog that he is chagrined and crestfallen at the way fake news is being peddled on social media. 

Moments after the tweet, hashtags like #NoSir began to trend on Twitter, with several beseeching the PM not to relinquish the social media. 

 

The magnitude of damage that has been created by these pieces of fake news is nothing less than colossal. 

With no yardstick or tool to verify and authenticate news put out on social media, it can literally run riot. 

And such news has the potential to incite and foment more trouble and create needless strife in the society. 

For the record, PM Modi has a following of 53.3 mn on Twitter, 44 mn on FaceBook, 35.2 mn on Instagram and 4.5 mn on YouTube. 

It is needless to say that the PM generates a lot of following on all platforms. 

On the other hand, former AICC chief Rahul Gandhi put out a tweet, urging the PM to give up hatred, not social media accounts. 

And he received brickbats as well!