Social media gag order for State govt employees
Defending the action against police constable Ramesh Shinde, who was suspended for posting online content criticising the Prime Minister, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has laid down the ground rules, the essence of which is that all government employees are bound by service rules and must be ‘loyal’ to the presiding deity at the Centre and in the state.
But even as Fadnavis tried to defend his government against any criticism emanating from the action against the constable, he had nothing to say about the summons issued by the police to journalists who have merely “liked” or “forwarded” posts on purportedly fake accounts on social media. Accounts that are believed to foment social unrest.
Fadnavis did not elaborate on the unsaid gag order and instead underscored that government employees were bound by service rules. He declared: “The government will not let employees run a tirade against the party in power.”
Replying to anxious queries about the intent behind the curbs on social media, Fadnavis said some people have been writing against the government and officials have investigated their credentials. “Some fake accounts have been created and they keep carrying inflammatory posts on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. The writing was obnoxious and in bad taste and notices were sent to 11 youth. Some had ‘liked’ these posts, while some had ‘forwarded’ them.
Many of those who created these fake accounts were now running scared, he said. The intention was to raise social tensions in Maharashtra. ‘‘These facts were duly presented in the court,” explained Fadnavis.
Replying to further queries on action taken against police constable Shinde for forwarding a post on Whatsapp criticising PM Modi, Fadnavis said the person in question had been posting provocative writings for the last two months.
He added, “Service rules for government employees do not permit them to run a political campaign. Moreover, he happens to be the brother of a politician. For two months he had been posting such content on Whatsapp. There were 200 such posts. The decision to suspend him was not taken abruptly”. Shinde was in the security paraphernalia of Congress legislator Balasaheb Thorat when he was suspended for posting the content critical of the Prime Minister.