Tripura Police have reserved a minimum of 102 Twitter handles under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), along with other charges for allegedly posting ‘distorted information’ about communal violence in the state . The police also sent letters to several social media platforms to block their accounts. The move came after four Delhi-based defenders were slapped on UAPA and other Indian Penal Code charges for sharing fake news on their social media accounts. Police have asked microblogging site Twitter to block at least 68 accounts for posting objectionable content regarding communal violence in the state.
Complaint filed at West Agartala Police Station
The Hindustan Times published that the police also claimed that some of the posts in the accounts contained photographs or videos of other incidents or fabricated statements that encouraged enmity between religions with the motive of a criminal conspiracy. A senior police official said of the case that the letter to Twitter was sent after complaints were made about the posts. West Agartala Police Station filed complaints under Sections 153A, 153B, 469 471 503 504 120B of the Indian Penal Code and Section 13 of the Prevention of Unlawful Activities Act. In addition, the cases were forwarded to the Crime Department for further investigation.
102 reserved account holders
The senior officer reportedly said, “102 social media account holders have been booked, and we have sent letters to these platforms to block them after distorted information about the Tripura incidents was posted on these platforms.” He added that there might be 68 accounts on Twitter, but there were also profiles on other social media platforms where distorted news was being spread. Police asked residents to refrain from retweeting or sharing any provocative action as it constituted a rumour.
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