The cyber-crime wing of Hyderabad Police on Friday has registered criminal cases against the India head of Meta, Arun Srinivas, as well as owners of several accounts on social media platforms Facebook and Instagram, over the alleged circulation of morphed and objectionable content targeting Prime Minister (PM) of India, Narendra Modi, during the recent protests spearheaded by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) at Jantar Mantar in the national capital.
Representative image
The action follows complaints alleging that manipulated videos and images of PM Modi were widely shared on platforms owned by the tech giant Meta. The complainants claimed the content was obscene, was digitally altered and was also misleading, fuelling misinformation and its potential impact on public order.
PM Modi ridiculed in synthetic videos
As per the complaints, two people stumbled upon multiple posts on Instagram while browsing the platform. They alleged that the videos and images portrayed the PM in a derogatory, obscene and a misleading manner by means of digital manipulation.
The complaints also mentioned that the accompanying comments contained offensive language, ridicule and derogatory remarks directed at PM Modi and other people featuring in the manipulated content.
PM Modi and Meta
The complainants said that such posts encouraged wider engagement and circulation across social media platforms. They added that the material appeared to have been digitally altered or generated using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and were then disseminated online.
BJP Activist, Businessman lodge complaints
The complainants contended that the circulation of such content carried the potential to mislead the general public, spread misinformation, incite public unrest or hatred, offend public decency, defame public figures and disrupt public order. They further alleged that the posts are capable of promoting hostility among several sections of the society and violate applicable legal provisions.
A businessman named S Aravind Reddy (29) and T Saikiran Goud, a BJP activist from Telangana were the ones who lodged the complaint. The investigating police personnel are also examining several posts and comments shared during the student protests that allegedly contained profane language.
A shot from the CJP-led agitations
Meta ramps up safeguards for PM’s official account
The development has surfaced days after Meta drew flak from the Union Government when a video uploaded by PM Modi’s official account was taken down for a brief period from Facebook.
Following this, Meta assured the government that enhanced safeguards would be brought into force for PM Modi’s official social media accounts. As per sources, posts from prominent accounts will now receive additional oversight and only senior Meta officials will be authorised to review moderation decisions.
Any action concerning such accounts will reportedly undergo multiple layers of scrutiny involving at least two senior officials from the company.