Maharashtra Cyber Cell moves to block 22 accounts for propagating communal discord
Several accounts on social media belong to fake organizations and individuals who are using morphed photos, editing, and deep fake technology to spread communal discord.
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Mumbai, April 20: In the rising incidents of communal clashes across the country, the Maharashtra cyber cell proposed to block 22 accounts on different social media platforms for propagating communal disharmony. Of these 22 accounts, 20 are on Twitter, while others are on Instagram & Facebook.
The SP said, "We start with serving notices to intermediaries about the possibility of communal disharmony through such accounts. These intermediaries include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and others. They act immediately by taking down such content and then deleting it."
In the past two years, the Maharashtra Cyber cell has identified about 12,000 objectionable posts defaming dignitaries, of which 6,000 were deleted by intermediaries, said Shintre.
Communal flare-ups have witnessed an uptick across the country over the past two weeks, during the Ram Navami processions on April 10 and Hanuman Jayanthi processions on April 16.
Violence was reported in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Jharkhand during the Ram Navami processions, while clashes were reported from Delhi, Uttarakhand, and Andhra Pradesh during Hanuman Jayanthi celebrations on April 16.
Observing the current atmosphere of the country, 48 police stations under cybercrime department are actively filtering out accounts that post objectionable & defamatory content, said Maharashtra Cyber Cell Superintendent of Police (SP) Sanjay Shintre.
Shintre informed that several accounts on social media belong to fake organizations and individuals who are using morphed photos, editing, and deep fake technology to spread communal discord.
The SP said, "We start with serving notices to intermediaries about the possibility of communal disharmony through such accounts. These intermediaries include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and others. They act immediately by taking down such content and then deleting it."
In the past two years, the Maharashtra Cyber cell has identified about 12,000 objectionable posts defaming dignitaries, of which 6,000 were deleted by intermediaries, said Shintre.
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"Although Maharashtra Cyber is active every day, in the last one month, considering the political developments, the cyber cell has been very proactive," he added.
Communal flare-ups have witnessed an uptick across the country over the past two weeks, during the Ram Navami processions on April 10 and Hanuman Jayanthi processions on April 16.
Violence was reported in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Jharkhand during the Ram Navami processions, while clashes were reported from Delhi, Uttarakhand, and Andhra Pradesh during Hanuman Jayanthi celebrations on April 16.