Several accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and Telegram are reported to have been blocked by the Ministry of Information and Technology (MeitY) for disseminating modified recordings of a cabinet briefing and promoting inappropriate or hostile content.
MeitY stated it had received a number of complaints stating that particular handles, users, and channels were posting inappropriate content and attempting to split communities.
Furthermore, multiple films have been circulating on social media, including the most recent altered footage purporting to depict a cabinet briefing with overlay audio.
In a tweet, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar revealed that 73 Twitter accounts had been suspended, four YouTube videos had been deleted, and one Instagram game had been taken down. The proprietors of these accounts are being identified and will face legal action, and these social media networks’ due diligence will be examined, he added.
Task force on Safe&Trusted Internet at @GoI_MeitY at work??
— Rajeev Chandrasekhar ?? (@Rajeev_GoI) January 8, 2022
Handles tht tried to push fake/inciting content on twitter, youtube, fb, insta hv been blockd.
Also
a. ownrs of accnts being ID’d for actn under law.
b. to review platforms on their due diligence#SafeInternet ?? https://t.co/52uQfIqOU6
Propaganda to divert from PM Modi’s security breach
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) propaganda Twitter handle released a doctored video on Friday (January 7) claiming that the Indian government is intending to remove Sikhs from the Indian army. The news comes amid a standoff between the central government and the Punjab government over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s security lapse on January 5 of this year.
“Cabinet Committee on Security Meeting Minister Anurag Thakur, S Jaishankar calls for removal of Sikhs from the Indian army,” according to Anjali Kaur’s Twitter profile (@heyanjaliii). The aforementioned account was established in October of last year and currently has 987 followers. Someone was heard in the video arguing for the removal of all Punjabis from the Indian Army.
Reportedly, the audio belongs to one “Khal”, who had called for the removal of Punjabis from the Indian army during a Clubhouse discussion over alleged bragging by Khalistanis. The audio clip was already being shared on social media slamming the suggestion by many people. But the Pakistanis went ahead and added it to a Cabinet Committee of Security meeting to make baseless allegations against the Modi government.
The original footage was taken on December 9, last year, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi convened a high-level Cabinet Committee meeting in the wake of CDS General Bipin Rawat’s death.
CDS Gen Bipin Rawat’s chopper crash: PM Modi chairs Cabinet Committee on Security meeting | Catch the day’s latest news and updates: https://t.co/C4SeSvrNJu pic.twitter.com/JgDoCBVAdJ
— Economic Times (@EconomicTimes) December 9, 2021
The false account’s allegations were also refuted by the Press Information Bureau’s (PIB) official handle.
A tweet referring to a viral video claim that in a #Cabinet Committee meeting on Security, there was a call for the removal of Sikhs from the Indian Army.#PIBFactCheck
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) January 7, 2022
▶️ The claim is #Fake
▶️ No such discussion/meeting has taken place pic.twitter.com/ESec0ALjr3
“A tweet referring to a viral video claim that in a #Cabinet Committee meeting on Security, there was a call for the removal of Sikhs from the Indian Army. The claim is fake. No such discussion/meeting has taken place”, PIB tweeted.
