We will shut down Facebook in India: Karnataka HC warns social media giant
Bengaluru (PTI): The High Court of Karnataka has orally warned Facebook (Meta) that it may order its operations in India to be shut down if it does not cooperate with police investigation over a fake profile.
An Indian national from Mangaluru, Shailesh Kumar, is in prison in Saudi Arabia allegedly over a derogatory Facebook post against the king of that nation and Islam. His wife Kavitha has complained to the local police that it was a fake profile of her husband on which the derogatory message was posted.
The police have failed to complete the investigation on the fake profile prompting Kavitha to approach the high court. Her petition, originally filed in 2021, was heard by Justice Krishna S Dixit on Wednesday.
Earlier on June 12, the HC had ordered: "The Commissioner of Police, Mangalore (Mangaluru), is directed to study the case papers and be present before the Court to answer as to why there has been arguably enormous delay in accomplishing the investigation of the matter when a citizen of this country is languishing in a jail of a foreign country after trial and conviction when his specific stand was that his Facebook account was hacked."
Mangaluru city police commissioner Kuldeep Kumar Jain and the investigating officer in the case were present in the HC on Wednesday.
Kavitha's complaint to the police stated that Shailesh has been working in Saudi Arabia for the past 25 years. He had put up a post in support of the Indian Government's Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizenship (NRC) move. He allegedly received a threat call over this post following which he deleted his account.
Subsequently, some miscreants created a fake account in his name and uploaded a derogatory post against the Saudi king and Islam, she said. Following this post, Shailesh was arrested in Saudi Arabia, tried and sentenced to 15 years in jail. Based on the information he provided, his wife filed the police complaint about the fake profile in her husband's name.
The police commissioner informed the HC on Wednesday that the investigation has been delayed as Facebook has not cooperated with the police.
When the HC questioned the counsel for Facebook, the counsel informed the court that he had no information about the exact location of the incident. This prompted the HC to issue the warning that the operations of Facebook would have to be ordered to shut down if it did not cooperate with the investigation.
The counsel sought a week's time to submit the details required. The HC adjourned the hearing to June 22 directing Facebook to submit a detailed report on the incident and relevant information. Meta, Facebook's parent company, was arraigned as a party to the petition on May 29, 2023.
The HC also directed the Union government to detail the steps taken to secure the Indian national who has been jailed in a foreign prison in a fake case.
"Union Government should also make a statement based upon records to be given in a sealed cover as to what happened to the concerned citizen; whether he was given lawyer's assistance on a foreign soil; whether apparently trial proceedings were held with fairness standards as obtaining in the international criminal law," the HC's June 12 order read.
The HC also warned the Union government that "if the details as sought are not furnished, the concerned secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs may be summoned personally before the Court."
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
