Government asks Meta and X to share data on hoax bomb threats to airlines

The government has asked Meta and X to share data about hoax bomb threat messages to airlines and has started identifying those behind such activities

The government has asked social media platforms Meta and X to share data about hoax bomb threat messages to airlines and has started identifying those behind such activities, even as more than 80 flights received the threats on Thursday.

Passengers of the Vistara flight VTI027 from Mumbai to Frankfurt walk along the tarmac as they leave the plane at the Erzurum airport in eastern Turkey, Friday,. The Vistara airline flight made a forced landing in Turkey on Friday following a bomb threat, Turkish officials said. (AP)

Sources in the know said the government has also asked top multinational technology conglomerates to cooperate with it in helping identify those behind such hoax calls, saying this involves public good.

In 11 days, more than 250 flights operated by the Indian carriers have received bomb threats. Most of the threats were issued through social media.

According to the top government sources, the government has traced some of the culprits and that action is being taken accordingly.

However, they did not provide specific details like from where these hoax messages came from and who were behind them.

"The government has told social media companies Meta and X to share data pertaining to such hoax calls and messages made on their platforms targeting several airlines and asked them to cooperate," one of the sources said.

The source also said "they will have to cooperate and provide data since this involves public good at large". This was in response to a query on whether the social media companies are cooperating with the government or not on the issue.

More than 80 domestic and international flights of various Indian airlines received bomb threats on Thursday, sources said.

The sources said around 20 flights each of Air India, Vistara, and IndiGo got bomb threats while Akasa Air got the threats for 13 flights. Besides, around 5 flights each of Alliance Air and SpiceJet received the threats, they added.

An IndiGo spokesperson in a statement on Thursday said it received security-related alerts for 20 flights.

As many as 13 flights of Akasa Air operating on Thursday received security alerts and that after thorough inspections, all the aircraft concerned were released for operations, an airline spokesperson said.

"The airport services teams at all impacted airports coordinated with local authorities to ensure efficient handling of the situation including safe deplaning of passengers, assistance and refreshments as required," the spokesperson said in a statement.

In a statement, a Vistara spokesperson said that a few of its flights on Thursday received security threats on social media.

At least six flights to and from Kochi airport received bomb threats on Thursday. It included one SpiceJet flight from Dubai to Kochi, airport sources said.

On Wednesday, an unidentified caller threatened to blow up the Dumna airport at Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, which turned out to be a hoax, a police officer said.

Earlier this week, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said the government plans to take legislative actions to deal with instances of bomb threats to airlines, including placing perpetrators of such threats in the no-fly list.