Almost 30% of MHA’s takedown notices to X target posts on Union Ministers, govt agencies: Report
New Delhi: In a significant revelation, nearly 30% of the 66 takedown notices sent by the Ministry of Home Affairs' Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) to X (formerly Twitter) over the past year have warned the platform to remove content involving Union Ministers and Central government agencies.
According to court records obtained by The Hindu from the Delhi High Court and the Karnataka High Court, these notices primarily focus on posts about popular leaders such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and his son Jay Shah, as well as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar.
The report, published on Sunday, revealed that in the past year, the government has issued notices to social media and messaging platforms — including X, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp — requesting the removal of over 1.1 lakh pieces of content. These requests were made to address various categories of "unlawful information," such as deepfakes, child sexual abuse material, financial frauds, and "misleading and false information." The content targeted for removal includes posts from political parties, news organisations, and individual users both in India and globally.
One such incident involved AI-generated images targeting Jay Shah in a derogatory light alongside Kavya Maran, the owner of the Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL team. The I4C flagged the content as a deliberate attempt to defame prominent officials through the misuse of technology. One of the two posts was a fact check debunking the visual, and was not removed by X, while the other was deleted by the user themselves, the report mentioned.
X has also received notices to take down content critical of the Home Ministry’s leadership. In one notice in December, X was notified about 54 posts linking to a manipulated video clip of Amit Shah purporting to show an anti-reservation stance.
Another request involved a post featuring Prime Minister Modi, which referenced a promise to “give the country an account every five years.” The government sought its removal, although the post appears to have been deleted by the user.
Beyond these high-profile cases, the I4C has also issued routine notices. These include takedowns of fraudulent accounts imitating the Cyber Dost helpline and content inciting religious hatred against both Hindus and Muslims.
For nearly two years, these takedown notices remained undisclosed after X ceased publishing details of government requests in April 2023. However, the ongoing legal battle between X and the Union government has brought these details to light, The Hindu added.
At the center of this legal conflict is the SAHYOG portal, which allows law enforcement agencies to send notices under Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000. X has raised concerns, calling it a “censorship portal” and arguing that it is a circumvention of legal safeguards against censorship in a different section of the same law. The Union government, however, maintains that the notices are not blocking orders but rather serve as warnings to social media platforms about potential liability for unlawful content.
A police official with access to the SAHYOG portal told the news outlet that the system is still in its trial phase, with only a small percentage of notices leading to actual takedown actions. The majority of law enforcement agencies continue to prefer submitting requests directly to platforms instead of going through the SAHYOG portal.
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Kerala HC declines interim stay on screening of ''L2: Empuraan''
Kochi (PTI): The Kerala High Court on Tuesday declined to issue any interim order putting on hold the screening of Malayalam film 'L2: Empuraan' starring superstar Mohanlal.
Justice C S Dias ordered to issue notice to the Centre and the Censor Board seeking their stand on the plea by Thrissur-native V V Vijeesh who has claimed that continuing to show the movie poses a risk of inciting communal violence and disturbing public order.
It listed the matter for hearing after the vacation.
The court also questioned whether the petition was filed in publicity interest by the petitioner.
During the brief hearing of the matter, the court also asked what was the problem when the Censor Board had certified the film for public viewing.
It also expressed doubts about the petitioner's intention behind filing the plea.
It also pointed out that no case was filed anywhere against the movie.
The state government said that no case has been lodged against the film in Kerala.
Meanwhile, Antony Perumbavoor, one of the producers of the film, earlier in the day announced that the movie has undergone cuts to remove scenes of little over two minutes.
He said the decision to carry out the edit was a joint one of all the producers and actors, including Mohanlal and Prithviraj Sukumaran, and it was not out of fear of anyone.
The movie has faced intense criticism from the Sangh Parivar with regard to some portions of the film.
'L2: Empuraan', the second part of the 'Lucifer' movie, a trilogy planned by the Prithviraj-Mohanlal team, has become a topic of hot debate over its critique of right-wing politics and the covert mention of the Gujarat riots.
On March 27, the day of the movie's release, the Sangh Parivar vehemently criticised the film on social media, while the Congress and Left platforms celebrated the film for portraying the right-wing politics as "villainous".
