Odisha police plan social media lab
LOOKING AHEAD Aim is to gather intelligence, rein in violence that follows inflammatory remarks on virtual platforms
BHUBANESWAR: Caught napping over Bhadrak riots in April and communal violence in Rourkela last year over inflammatory remarks on social media, Odisha police are looking at creating a “social media lab” to gather intelligence, according to official documents.
Odisha director general of police KB Singh declined to confirm his department’s plan for such a laboratory (wing). “No such lab is in the offing,” he said. But copies of official documents with HT show there is a proposal for such a lab on the lines of those in “Maharashtra and (West) Bengal” to track public views and analyse sentiments on various social media platforms.
“The advanced social media monitoring tools would help in gauging and analysing public media and sentiments, draw up predictive analysis of projected events, and provide indicators to police regarding the size and seriousness of public emotions,” states the Odisha police concept note for the lab.
“It would provide pre-actionable intelligence regarding rise in digital chatter and participation of general people or community groups in social media websites. The idea of the project is to raise red flag over any inflammatory posting which may have a bearing on the law and order situation,” the note adds. Sources said the lab would work round the clock in the state police headquarters at Cuttack and would be headed by a deputy superintendent of police with 60 police and software personnel under him.
Social media networks in India are growing exponentially at an annual rate of 50%. More than 12 crore of the 25 crore internet users are hooked to sites such as Facebook. Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram and Linkedin, and apps such as WhatsApp.
In April, communal violence lasted for days in Bhadrak, about 125km northeast of state capital Bhubaneswar, over an inflammatory comment by a Muslim youth on a Facebook post.
About 450 institutions, including business establishments, godowns and houses, were damaged in arson and property worth more than ₹9 crore was destroyed.
The violence led to imposition of curfew in the town for over a month, the longest in the state so far. Though police arrested nearly 200 people over their role in the violence, they came in for criticism for failing to prevent the riots despite telltale signs of anger building up on social media. Police also had to deal with communal tension in the coastal town of Kendrapara in April after an offensive video on Facebook poked fun at prayers of a minority community.
In July 2016, Rourkela saw minor communal violence during Rath Yatra when a boy posted an objectionable comment on a minority community in a WhatsApp group.
Having faced criticism over communal violence in Kandhamal in 2008, chief minister Naveen Patnaik is wary of any religious violence that may give a leg-up to opposition BJP. According to sources, his BJD government’s message to police is do not get caught off guard.