THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state police have removed a total of 223 social media URLs for posting “objectionable content” that violated the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) for the assembly polls.
Content from 223 accounts were purged in coordination with social media platforms since March 16 – the day when the MCC came into force – after the police flagged them as “obscene, defamatory and hatred-inducing”.
The social media monitoring wing set up by the police had identified 243 URLs that posted objectionable content and wrote to the tech intermediaries to take it down, following which content posted from 223 accounts were removed, sources told TNIE. In six instances where the offences reported were of grave nature, the police have registered cases and investigation is on to locate the offenders.
The cyber wing has been surveilling social media since January 1 to identify and remove content that they deem could vitiate communal and political harmony. Around 1,300 URLs were removed since then and four cases were registered against the offenders.
The Centre had enacted a new rule in February that made it mandatory for social media platforms to remove “unlawful content” within three hours of being notified about it. This window was earlier 36 hours. As a result, platforms have been proactively heeding to takedown requests, police sources said.
They also said that content that was red-flagged included sexual innuendos against women political leaders and candidates, communally-polarising messages, unverified allegations against the Election Commission and the Chief Election Commissioner.
Regarding the cases being registered against offenders being lower than the total number of URLs removed, sources said the content was mostly created and uploaded via virtual private networks (VPN).
“Our immediate concern is to remove the objectionable content as swiftly as possible. Cases are registered based on the severity of the offences. If the users are readily identified, they are promptly booked. Most of the culprits use VPN and it takes time to track them down,” an officer said.