Krishna, a rickshaw driver in Karnataka, has been accused of posting derogatory matter about Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his group. The Whats-App group, ‘Balse Boys’ in Karnataka is in trouble over allegedly morphed pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi being posted on it. 2 members of the group have been arrested and the police are looking for another member, allegedly on the charge of sharing morphed photo.
Krishna Sanna Thamma Naik (age-30), the administrator of the group, has been arrested. Mr. Naik is an auto rickshaw driver in Karnataka. On 14th April, a complaint was registered with the police against the group from a man called Anand Manunath Naik. He alleged the PM Narendra Modi’s photo had been morphed to make it look “ugly and obscene”. Only 2 days later, a member of the group, Ganesh, was called to the police station for questioning. He was arrested and let off on bail and Krishna Sanna Thamma Naik was arrested on 2nd May. Now the police are looking for another group member, Mr. Balakrishna.
Actually, this represents the misuse of social media to spread fake news, morphed photographs and disturbing fabricated videos that can trigger tension and an even communal rift in an area. Recently, a joint order has been issued by Varanasi District Magistrate, Yogeshwar Ram Mishra and Senior SP, Nitin Tiwari which made it has been made clear that any factually incorrect or misleading information on a social media group could result in a FIR against the group administrator.
There are over two hundred million WhatsApp users in India. The order directed that social media group administrators should be ready to take the responsibility and ownership of the groups. The administrator of any group must include only those members who are personally known to the creator of the group.
Social media allow users to create a group on which members can share their views, photographs or videos. In December 2016, a Delhi High Court order had ruled that administrators cannot be held responsible for content posted by any other member of the group. If any statement or content is made by a group member which is fake, can cause disharmony, or rumor, the group admin must deny the content of the group and remove the member from the group. The order said, “In the event of inaction from the group admin, he or she will be liable for the content and will be considered guilty and action will be taken against the group admin.” It also said, “Such a post must be reported to the police station so that action can be taken against the member under the rules and regulations”.
