News Analysis India

Tag: social media

  • Govt working on law to regulate social media: Ram Madhav

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Senior BJP leader Ram Madhav said that social media has become so powerful that it can even topple governments, leading to anarchy and weakening democracy, and solutions to tackle this are needed to be found within the constitutional framework.

    Speaking at the launch of his new book ‘Because India Comes First’, Madhav said democracy is stressed and facing new challenges with the rise of “non-political” and “non-state” forces.

    “Social media is so powerful that it can even topple governments and regulating them is difficult as they are borderless.

    These forces can promote anarchy, which will weaken democracy but solutions should be within the constitutional framework,” he said at the event hosted by the Prabha Khaitan Foundation on Saturday evening.

    The existing laws are not adequate for this, he said.

    “We require new rules and laws to tackle and manage. The government is already working in this direction,” he added.

    Madhav’s comments come amid a row between the government and Twitter over blocking of accounts with Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad asking the micro-blogging site to follow the Indian law.

    Besides, the Supreme Court has issued a notice to the Centre and Twitter on a plea, seeking to regulate hate content and to make a law as per which action can be initiated against Twitter and their representatives in India for willfully abetting and promoting anti-India tweets and penalise them.

    Madhav said that in his new book he has penned his observations on several decisions of the Modi government.

    Answering a question on Gandhi, he said the RSS does not undermine any leader’s contribution.

    Gandhi was a great leader and his mantra of Ahimsa has been adopted by many global leaders, he said.

    “There may be differences of opinion, which we even find between Nehru and Gandhi from the letters exchanged between them but that does not mean we disrespect a national leader.

    In the RSS morning prayer, we have Gandhi’s name along with other leaders,” Madhav said.

    On Kashmir, he said that with the abrogation of Article 370, grassroot leaders are coming up against the hegemony of a few families.

    He also emphasised that it is the responsibility of the people of the country to make Kashmiris feel that they are part of the 1.3-billion-strong family.

    “Kashmiris are victims of propaganda for long. Things are changing but may take some time,” he said.

  • Centre, Twitter India get SC notice on plea seeking mechanism to regulate content spreading hate

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday sought responses from the Centre and Twitter India on a plea seeking a mechanism for regulating content and advertisements spreading hatred through fake news and instigative messages via bogus accounts.

    A bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde and justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian issued notice to the Centre and Twitter Communication India Pvt Ltd on the plea filed by one Vinit Goenka, which said there are hundreds of fake Twitter handles and bogus Facebook accounts in the name of eminent people and high dignitaries.

    Advocate Ashwini Dubey, appearing for Goenka, said directions are needed for establishing a mechanism to regulate hateful content on the social networking site.

    The bench said that it is issuing notice in the matter and tagging the plea with other pending matters.

    The plea filed through Dubey said, “These fake Twitter handles and Facebook accounts use real photo of constitutional authorities and eminent citizens. Therefore, common man relies upon the messages published from these Twitter handles and Facebook accounts.”

    The PIL said that fake news is the root cause of many riots, including the one in Delhi earlier this year, and bogus accounts are used to promote casteism and communalism which endangers fraternity and unity of the country.

    “It is submitted that presently total number of Twitter handles in India is around 35 million and total number of Facebook accounts is 350 million and experts says that around 10 per cent Twitter handles (3.5 million) and 10 per cent Facebook accounts (35 million) are duplicate/bogus/fake,” the plea said.

    Political parties use fake social media accounts for self-promotion and image building and to tarnish the image of opponents and contesting candidates, especially during the elections, the plea submitted.

    The plea has also sought directions to make a law as per which an action can be initiated against Twitter and their representatives in India for willfully abetting and promoting anti India tweets and penalize them.

    The petition further said that a representation to the authority concerned to act in accordance with the law of the country against social media giant Twitter was filed but no action has been taken so far by authorities concerned.

    .It also pointed out that the Ministry of Home Affairs has banned Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) under the Unlawful Activities and Prevention Act on July 10, 2019, yet it continues to have an active presence on Twitter and allegedly espouses hatred, terrorism and sedition, criminal acts.

    “The logic and algorithms that Twitter uses should be shared and vetted by Indian government authorities or competent authority for screening anti-India tweets. KYC of all social media handles in India must be conducted for making social media safe and accountable and traceable,” the plea said.

  • 19-year-old held from Faridabad for harassing over 50 women on social media

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: A 19-year-old man was arrested form Faridabad for allegedly harassing more than 50 girls and women by stalking them on social media platforms through a fake identity and morphing their pictures, police said on Wednesday.

    The accused, Rahim Khan, studied up to Class 8 and was engaged in operating various morphing mobile applications, they said.

    The police said the accused harassed more than 50 girls and women after stalking them over various social media platforms.

    He used to send them messages with sexual connotations on these platforms using a fake identity of a woman.

    The accused even targeted minors by morphing their pictures.

    Khan was arrested after a complaint was received at the RP Puram police station on Tuesday from one of the victims, who alleged that an unknown person was sending her morphed pictures to her from the Instagram handle “ch_rahim_khan786” and further demanding nude pictures, according to the police.

    Based on technical inquiry and details obtained from Instagram, a Cyber Cell team of southwest district traced the location of the accused.

    Khan was nabbed from his house in Haryana’s Faridabad, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southwest) Ingit Pratap Singh said.

    During interrogation, Khan confessed to his involvement in the crime and told the police that he had victimised over 50 girls and women across the country for personal satisfaction, the officer said.

    The police have recovered incriminating evidence including chat details, video clips and photographs of various women from Khan’s mobile phone.

    Further investigation is underway, the police said, adding that efforts are being made to contact the other victims.

  • Mamata Banerjee warns against ‘attempts to instigate riots’ through fake videos on social media

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday warned against attempts by some people to instigate riots through fake videos on social media.

    Banerjee, who was addressing a government function at Netaji Indoor Stadium here, urged police constables, homeguards and civic volunteers present at the programme to be on guard against any possible attempt to spread doctored videos through fake WhatsApp groups.

    “There can be many WhatsApp groups which spread fake messages to engineer riots. Be always on guard against any such attempt to foment trouble,” she told the gathering.

    “They (the groups) are saying whatever they like without verifying facts. They spread falsehoods. Remember they had also branded the agitating farmers in Delhi as terrorists in the past,” Banerjee said without naming anyone.

    ​ALSO READ | Bengal polls: Mamata schedules emergency meeting on January 29 as Shah set to begin state visit

    The chief minister announced that 680 former linkmen of terror outfit Kamtapur Liberation Organisation and 420 former Maoists who have surrendered and joined the mainstream are being recruited as homeguards.

    “You had been with different organisations opposed to the government for ideological reasons. Now when you will be donning the uniform and wearing the cap I know you will be forever alert to serve the nation, the people,” she said.

    Banerjee said the next of kin of 530 Maoists and KLO activists, who are either dead in violence or missing, will also be recruited as special home guards.

    Complimenting the police force for its tireless sacrifice during the peak of he COVID-19 pandemic, she said 75 police personnel had died due to the contagion.

    “The government gave Rs 10 lakh to the families of each of the deceased policeman and a job to the next of kin. But no monetary compensation can make up the irreparable loss.”

    ​ALSO READ | Mamata to TMC leaders: If you want to join BJP, quit immediately and never come back

    She said the family of each of the 16,000 police personnel infected by coronavirus had been given Rs one lakh each.

    The chief minister said 162 new police stations came up in nine and half years of Trinamool Congress rule and 30 cyber police stations had been set up.

    Banerjee said there will be 10 per cent quota for civic volunteers to the posts of home guards.

    “Our police men are the best in the country – firm in their duty but with a human face. They had donated blood everyday during the peak COVID-19 period when there was a dearth of blood camps. They had risked their lives,” she said.

    The chief minister inaugurated virtually a slew of development projects for the poor and marginalised people under ‘Jagroto Bangla’ programme – a new initiative of the state government.

    The projects included the Adivasi Bhavan for tribals, Lepcha Bhavan and Bonorini Market Complex at Bonhooghly in the city.

    She also handed over keys and ownership deeds to the shop owners and building named ‘Mahatoron’ at the pilgrom town of Tarapith, apart from giving employment to sportspersons in Jangalmahal area of south Bengal.

  • Now, sharing ‘defamatory’ social media posts on Bihar govt, MPs, MLAs can land you in jail

    Express News Service
    PATNA: Now, sharing ‘defamatory’ posts against the Bihar government, legislators, MPs and bureaucrats on social media can land you in jail.

    The state economic offence wing, which is also the nodal office to deal with cyber crimes, issued an order to all department heads to take legal action after proper investigation against anyone who posts such false posts through social media. It is pertinent to recall that CM Nitish Kumar had recently held social media responsible for propagating fake news. Kumar had asked officials to share information on development work done by the government to counter the false allegations on social media. He also admitted that wrong information about the party during the assembly elections had led to disastrous consequences. Nitish Kumar has been requesting his supporters not to trust social media posts. In his public meetings, be it in government or party forums, he has described social media posts as misleading and full of false information against his government.

    N H Khan, Additional Director General of Police (ADG) of the economic offence wing of the state, who issued the official circular on Thursday, could not be contacted.

    Meanwhile, leader of opposition Tejashwi Yadav attacked the Nitish Kumar-led government dubbing this an attack on the freedom of speech of the public.

    Taking to Twitter, Tejashwi dubbed the CM the “weak head of the immoral and illegal” government and the “bhisma pitamah” of corruption.

    He challenged the government to arrest him under the order.

  • FIR against Assam teacher for ‘defaming’ PM Modi via social media

    By Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: An FIR was lodged against an Assam college teacher who allegedly defamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other politicians by posting their objectionable photos on the social media.

    One Snehangshu Chakraborty, who is a leader of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), lodged the FIR with the Silchar Sadar Police Station against Tamojit Saha. The accused teaches Bengali at a junior college in the southern Assam city.

    In the FIR, Chakraborty wrote that Saha had posted an image on Facebook and captioned it “Impact of farmers’ movement in Haryana”. The post had alleged objectionable photos of PM Modi, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and his deputy Dushyant Chautala.

    A case was registered under Sections 294 (obscene acts and songs) and 501 (printing or engraving matter known to be defamatory) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 67 (publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of the Information Technology Act.

    The police said they were probing the case. The accused was yet to be arrested.

    The complainant as well as the members of ABVP demanded action against the teacher. They said he had demeaned Modi and the two Haryana politicians with his offensive post.

  • Rajasthan: Six held for befriending random people on social media, extorting money using morphed chat video

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Six members of an alleged extortion gang have been arrested from Rajasthan for allegedly duping people after be-friending them on social media and later threatening to upload their morphed chat videos online, police said on Wednesday.

    The accused have been identified as Waris (28), Rayees (22), Annay Khan (21), Wahid (23), Mufeed (30) and Akram (21), they said, adding they were running the alleged extortion racket from a village in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur.

    According to police, they used to create fake Facebook profiles and befriend random people.

    After chatting for a while, they would get the victims on video call, capture the screen and edit it to juxtapose it with an offensive adult content, they said.

    The morphed videos were then used to blackmail their targets.

    Offensive videos of more than 40 victims have been recovered from the mobile phones of the accused persons, they added.

    The accused have so far allegedly cheated people to the tune of Rs 25 lakh, a senior police officer said, adding 10 bank accounts linked to the gang have been identified and frozen.

    A probe was initiated by the Cyber Cell Unit of Delhi Police after multiple complaints were received in the last few weeks against an online extortion racket, he said.

    “As per the complaints, the victims were contacted over social media platforms such as Facebook through profiles of attractive individuals.

    The victims were engaged in a brief chat and guided to a video call over Messenger or WhatsApp.

    During the call, the victims were shown an adult clip and their video call was simultaneously recorded.

    “After sometime, they got extortion calls in the name of the offensive video made from the captured video chat.

    Amounts ranging from Rs 2,000 to 30,000 were demanded and some of the victims succumbed to those demands before reporting it to the police,” said Anyesh Roy, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cyber Cell).

    Using technical help, the location of the accused was zeroed in to Bharatpur, Rajasthan.

    Later, in coordination with the Bharatpur Police, the hideouts of the gang were identified and early on Monday morning, raids were conducted and six accused arrested, he said.

    During the course of investigation, it was found that the accounts in which money was transferred were of Alwar, Rajasthan.

    The accused used multiple SIM cards obtained on fake identities in commission of the crime, he added.

    A total of 17 mobile phones used in making extortion calls and obscene chats and two ATM cards along with bank account documents in which the extorted money had been transferred by various victims have been recovered from their possession, the DCP said.

    The case is under investigation and the cyber cell unit’s help is being sought to retrieve crucial digital evidence, police said, adding efforts are being made to identify the involvement of others.

  • Picture of Sukma city dominated on social media, people are praising

    The picture of Sukma, who is bearing the brunt of Naxalism, is changing now. This changed picture has been covered in social media. Actually, someone took a picture of the city from a hotel at night. In which the main road of the city is visible between the street’s street light and furry light. Which is no less than a big city to see. Which everyone is praising. Here a beautiful statue of Gautam Buddha is seen, which shows that the phase of violence is now in its last phase and peace is now beginning.

    The picture of Sukma, the municipality, is now changing. The initiative of District Panchayat President Harish Kavasi and Municipality President Raju Sahu is now bringing color to our efforts In which the first street lights of the city were replaced. After that the furry light was put on during Diwali.

  • ISI, terror groups resort to cyber recruitment in J&K: Officials 

    In 2020, over two dozen terror modules were busted by security agencies leading to the arrest of over 40 such sympathisers.

  • Editorial :- Raaphel Deel Par Congress ke Jhooth ka Pardaaphaash .

    Rahul Gandhi and his Congress now have no confidence in themselves nor on voters of India.

    Now they have confidence, only on the foreign powers operating in anti-India activities in Pakistan, China and the enemy country of India.

    Rahul Gandhi thinks that the lie will be publicized again and people will understand it as true.

    Rahul Gandhi was born in Italy. There is also the effect of Italy in their blood. Rahul Gandhi’s maternal grandfather was in Mussolini’s party of Italy. Mussolini was a companion to Hitler. Hitler’s Propaganda Minister was Goebbels. So Rahul Gandhi is a clone of Goebbels.

    Rahul Gandhi himself said at the time of the Gujarat assembly elections that no leader of Congress should use abuses against Prime Minister Modi of India. In the same election, Mani Shankar Aiyar called the prime minister low, and Rahul Gandhi had suspended the Congress for a while and then withdrew it to show that seeing his own manhandling was going down.

    The question is, does Rahul Gandhi himself do the same type of objection, who will get him from the Congress? People can learn lessons at the time of their election.

    Rahul Gandhi’s media campaign chief Divya Pundanan is spreading a lot of false rumors to spread in the social media. He published a picture of Modi ji on Twitter and wrote the thief. After this, Rahul Gandhi removed Divya from the media campaign head on the advice of Jairam King to avoid criticism.

    Now the question arises that who will punish Rahul Gandhi by calling him a bad word while doing even more disgusting politics? Voters are those who can punish them.

    Rahul Gandhi is now corrupt and Prime Minister of Anil Ambani after the thief has called the prime minister. He did all this in his press conference on Thursday afternoon.

    Rahul Gandhi, at the time, walked on the behest of Pakistan and China, spreading false news in a French website that the 10th Aviation had no alternative but to compromise with Reliance Defense.

    This report was also published in Navbharat Times. Soon after and a few hours after Rahul Gandhi’s press conference, a news story was published in the Navbharat Times:

    Rafael Deal: The new quote after the website’s new disclosure, the choice of Reliance done by itself.

    Navbharat Times.com Scholarship: January 11, 2018, 09: 12

    It was said in the news that after the new disclosure of France’s Investigative website MediaPart in Rafael Deal, the response of French company Das has been revealed. The company, which gave the Rafael airline to India, while rejecting the report of the website, has said that he had chosen Reliance as a partner of Joint Venture himself. Let us tell you that in the new revelations, the French website has claimed that there was no other alternative than having a settlement with Reliance Defense.

    In his explanation on Wednesday, Dewan Aviation said that in order to comply with the Indian rules (defense procurement process) it had to make an offset contract of 50 percent. Das decided to build a joint venture for this. The company further said that Dewi Aviation has independently selected Reliance Group for this. On June 10, 2017, joint venture double Reliance Aerospace Limited (RC) was formed

    Follow-up of French Regulation

    Das has told that other partnerships have also been signed with companies such as BTSL, Prabhashastas, Kinetic, Mahindra, Ruddhbuddhb, Srunjashvaru. Apart from this, negotiations are going on with 100 other potential partners. The company has said that the French regulation has also been fully followed in this process. Under this, Chief Operating Officer Loik Segalan informed the Central Works Council on the formation of joint venture on May 11, 2017.

    In fact, the ruthless attempt to repeal the Rafael Deal on rumors, lies and propaganda is continuing and the international conspiracy has been started to give ‘Rahul Gandhi and Company’. This thing was strengthened when ABP News’s journalist Vikas Bhadauriya tweeted on September 28. He wrote, “Leaders of international arms companies, Amars dealers and two political parties are engaged in defaming the Modi government under international conspiracy to their advantage so that this government repeals the Rafael Deal.”