430 posts and accounts spread disinformation during CJP protest: Cops

Approximately 100 accounts were found to be operating from outside India, said a police officer from Maharashtra Cyber

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra Cyber has identified over 400 social media posts and profiles involved in a coordinated disinformation campaign during the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protests last week.

Around 20,000 people attended a rally in Shivaji Park on Sunday to celebrate Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation as education minister (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT Photo)

The agency said that it had identified a network of social media accounts that were disseminating misleading and AI-generated content with the objective of manipulating public perception, creating confusion, provoking unrest and disturbing public order. In all, 429 objectionable social media posts and handles were identified across platforms, including Instagram, X, Facebook, and YouTube, and approximately 100 accounts were found to be operating from outside India, said a police officer from Maharashtra Cyber.

“Further analysis established that more than 140 posts and profiles involved AI-generated or AI-assisted content, which was scientifically detected and validated using Maharashtra Cyber’s state-of-the-art audio-video forensic analysis tools,” the officer said. Some of the posts revealed digitally inflated crowd visuals, synthetic voice generation, cloned audio, and videos falsely attributed to public figures, he added.

Anti-social elements operating from outside India, particularly from Pakistan and certain Middle Eastern countries, were amplifying misleading narratives targeting Indian audiences, the officer mentioned.

“We have initiated legal action against these accounts, including the takedown of objectionable content through social media intermediaries,” the officer said.

Meanwhile, the Mumbai Police have registered more than 20 FIRs in connection with the protests in the city, booking over 1,000 young men and women, including the organisers of several protest demonstrations.