Gandhinagar, September 26, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe has urged students to question and verify information encountered on social media, warning that reels, forwarded messages and algorithm-driven content can increasingly influence how people think and make decisions.
Speaking during a nearly two-and-a-half-hour interaction with students at Karnavati University, Mundhe said a change in mindset should begin with individuals questioning their own assumptions and actions.
“We have become too shallow. We are not living deeply, we are not thinking, we are not questioning,” he said.
Mundhe said questioning should begin with self-reflection rather than simply challenging others. “You have to start questioning yourself first. Who am I? Am I responsible or irresponsible?” he said.
He then highlighted what he described as the growing influence of social media and “WhatsApp University”, urging students not to accept reels or forwarded messages without checking their authenticity.
“We take decisions on that basis, but we never try to understand whatever has come to you: is it really correct, is it authentic, is it real, or is it fake, or is it a narrative?” Mundhe said.
Explaining how social media algorithms work, he said platforms learn from users’ viewing and engagement patterns and subsequently serve them more content aligned with their preferences.
“In one week, you will start getting what you like. Because it captures your mind, it captures your imagination,” he said.
Mundhe said repeated exposure to similar material could reinforce existing preferences and reduce the tendency to examine information independently. He described this as a form of “new colonialism” driven by algorithms and reels.
“Do you want to be ruled by a reel, or do you want to create a reel?” he asked the students, encouraging them to become creators rather than passive consumers of digital content.
He advised students to pause before accepting information, cross-check it against other evidence and discard content found to be false or misleading.
Mundhe linked the need for verification to ethical decision-making, asking students to consider whether they were making their own decisions or allowing external influences to make those decisions for them.
“Are you making a decision, or are your decisions being taken by somebody else, is the question,” he said.
He said the required change in thought process should begin with a “reboot” of the mind, adding that greater scrutiny of information could encourage originality, legality and ethical thinking in everyday life.
“I believe that reboot has to begin in your mind, not just in reels,” Mundhe said.
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