Cybercrime police in Hyderabad have registered cases against the operators of several Facebook and Instagram accounts, as well as Meta's India head, over the alleged morphed and objectionable content targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protests against exam irregularities.
According to the police, the cases relate to the circulation of allegedly manipulated and objectionable content on Facebook and Instagram during the protests. Further investigation is underway.
The FIRs were registered following the complaints from BJP supporters The Times of India reported. Meta's India head has been named as a co-accused under relevant provisions of BNS and IT Act.
“We have issued a notice to Meta about the cases registered and the objectionable links reported by the complainants. We are also trying to collect details about the accused to identify and arrest them,” a cybercrime investigator was quoted as saying.
Among the complainants was T Saikiran Goud, social media core committee member of Telangana BJP and party supporter S Arvind Reddy, the report added. Goud reportedly submitted 20 links from Facebook and Instagram, demanding action against Meta for hosting the content.
“I came across multiple morphed and digitally manipulated videos and images depicting the Prime Minister, US President and former Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan in an obscene, derogatory and misleading manner," Reddy was quoted as saying.
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Meta's response
“We are in touch with the concerned agencies and are cooperating with them to resolve the matter,” a Meta spokesperson told HT.
The Mark Zuckerberg-led company has been in troubled waters in India off late and agreed on Thursday to appear before the government to explain policy and technical issues concerning the company.
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) Secretary S Krishnan told news agency ANI that the government has asked Meta to send its senior-most representatives to explain the circumstances surrounding the issues flagged by authorities and provide clarity at both policy and technical levels.
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On Tuesday, Meta issued a statement on blocking PM Modi's video on Facebook, saying that the content had been “removed in error”. It informed that the video has now been restored. Soon after, the ministry of information and technology summoned the global head of public policy of Meta (Facebook and Instagram), said sources.