Over 100 arrested for hate mongering on social media
LUCKNOW: Despite 15 UP districts under internet shutdown and the arrest of more than 100 people in the last four days across the state, the police were still battling to check hate-mongering and campaigns against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed all-India National Register of Citizens (NRC) on social media intermediaries.
The police have so far taken action against more than 14,000 posts and arrested 102 people, besides made over 400 preventive arrests (later released). “63 FIRs were lodged for spreading hate on social media across UP. Most of these posts were uploaded on facebook (8,000), twitter (6,000) and 141 on YouTube,” said SP Mohammad Imran, who heads social media monitoring cell.
He said that many of these posts were uploaded by individuals while some groups were also traced, constantly mobilizing people by spreading rumours on social media.
INTERNET SHUTDOWN HELPED
The 15 UP districts are under mobile internet shutdown including many in west UP. The internet ban was lifted in Lucknow on Saturday post noon, but it was again down by the late evening. A police official said, “The internet shutdown helps in containing the hatemongering. It has been seen that people sometimes share wrong or fake messages.”
UP DISTRICTS SEE 7TH INTERNET SHUTDOWN
Some parts of state were put
under Internet shutdown for the seventh time this year. Since 2015, it was almost for the 20th times when the parts of state were switched offline, said an official.
Several districts of the state faced Internet shutdown after killing of a toddler in Aligarh, murder of brother of a political leader in west UP and during clashes between people at the time of Bharat bandh for reservation related issues, said a police official.
Recently, Internet was suspended in several districts of the state in wake of the Ayodhya verdict on November 9.
The police said that with the rise in numbers of Internet users, mobilisation and hatemongering were prevalent on social media.