VIJAYAWADA: In a major crackdown on cyberbullying and online harassment, Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan on Wednesday evening issued a comprehensive social media address, announcing the setting up of a dedicated, high-level institutional complaint cell within his camp office alongside a Special Task Force to track and penalise online abusers.
Victims of digital harassment can now submit complaints directly to this specialised monitoring system, which is backed by digital evidence, including screenshots, links, and video clips. Every genuine grievance will be thoroughly scrutinised and immediately forwarded to a newly proposed task force—comprising cybercrime police investigators and legal enforcement agencies—to ensure swift, time-bound criminal prosecution.
Asserting that the state will firmly stand by victims, Pawan Kalyan emphasized that while the NDA government fully respects and upholds the constitutional right to expression, it will not tolerate weaponised trolling.
“Freedom of speech does not mean the freedom to abuse,” the Deputy Chief Minister stated. “We welcome constructive criticism, fair comments, satires, and dissenting political views. But hiding behind fake profiles to launch misogynistic attacks, target women, issue death threats, or insult religious deities is a blatant criminal offence.”
Invoking Article 19(2) of the Constitution, he reminded citizens that free speech carries reasonable restrictions concerning public order, decency, morality, and defamation. He also issued a strong appeal to internet users, urging them to break the chain of online toxicity by refusing to like, share, or forward defamatory and abusive content.
Warning political operators against using identity politics as a shield, the Deputy Chief Minister noted that crime has no caste, religion, or political affiliation, and no offender will be allowed to evade the law using these pretexts.
The State will strictly enforce stringent provisions under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000. If required to curb the growing menace of cyber-harassment and safeguard the dignity of citizens, the government is fully prepared to enact a comprehensive new legislation specifically regulating social media abuse.
