SRINAGAR – Cracking down on those using social media to show enforcementagencies in bad light and generate sympathy for Militants, authorities inKishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir have booked three individuals andissued notices to 21 WhatsApp group administrators, a senior police officersaid.
Senior Superintendent of Police, Kishtwar, Abrar Chowdhary said the actioncomes after police collected the details of various social media forumsincluding WhatsApp groups over the last three months.
The police collected details of social media forums including WhatsApp overthe last three months. A report was subsequently submitted to the districtmagistrate with a request to issue an appropriate order for the properregistration and regulation,” he said.
On June 29, District Magistrate, Kishtwar, Angrez Singh Rana ordered usersof social media platforms like WhatsApp group admins to seek permission in10 days to continue running these groups or face action, he said.
So far, only five groups have come forward to register themselves. Ofthese, three are official and only two are private groups, Chowdhary said.
On the expiry of the deadline, we issued notices to 21 WhatsApp groupadmins to immediately register their groups with the concerned quartersfailing which the action under law will be initiated against them in theevent of anything done in these groups which is contrary to the law of theland, he said.
Besides, police have already registered three FIRs against differentindividuals in this regard, he added.
The police officer said that misuse of social media platforms byanti-social and anti-national elements to influence public opinion againstthe law enforcing agencies and glorify terrorists prompted the authoritiesto chalk out a counter strategy.
After collecting a considerable data on the activities of the WhatsAppgroups, we came to the conclusion that many of them are being misused fordissemination of half-baked and unscrupulous information including rumourshaving potential to create law and order situations like a communal wedgeand social unrest.”
The anti-social and anti-national individuals with a criminal mindsettransmit videos, audio and textual material generated by the militants,their over ground workers and the separatist elements to generate asympathy for terrorists and glorify them among the youth, the SSP said. Theaction comes at a time when terror outfits were trying to spread theirtenterhooks in the hilly district bordering south Kashmir.