The Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police have registered cases against Meta India head Arun Srinivas and several Facebook and Instagram accounts over the alleged circulation of morphed and objectionable content targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the recent Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protests at Jantar Mantar.
According to police, the action was initiated following complaints alleging that digitally manipulated videos and images portraying the Prime Minister in an obscene and misleading manner were being shared on social media platforms.
One of the complainants, S. Arvind Reddy, a 29-year-old businessman, alleged that while browsing Instagram he came across multiple edited videos and images depicting the Prime Minister in a derogatory manner. In his complaint, he claimed that the content included morphed visuals featuring PM Modi alongside Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, as well as an edited image of US President Donald Trump. He further alleged that the visuals appeared to have been digitally manipulated or generated using Artificial Intelligence (AI) before being widely circulated online.
The complaint stated that such content had the potential to mislead the public, spread misinformation, disturb public order, damage the reputation of public figures and create social discord.
In a separate complaint, T. Saikiran Goud, a Telangana BJP worker and member of the party’s social media cell, alleged that he found objectionable reels and morphed images related to the Prime Minister on Facebook and Instagram. He urged authorities to investigate the accounts responsible for publishing content that he claimed was harmful to the sovereignty, integrity and public order of the country.
Police said that during the course of the preliminary investigation, many of the allegedly objectionable posts had either been removed from the platforms or were no longer accessible in India.
Based on the complaints, the Cyber Crime Police registered cases under Sections 66-C and 67 of the Information Technology Act, along with Sections 353(2) and 336(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The investigation into the matter is currently underway.
Meta Updates Grievance Redressal Policy
The development comes a day after Meta informed the Uttarakhand High Court that it had revised its grievance redressal mechanism to ensure quicker action on user complaints.
During the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) concerning fake social media accounts, objectionable online content and delays in addressing user complaints, counsel appearing for Meta told the court that the company had strengthened its complaint-handling system and was now taking immediate action on grievances reported by users.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta and Justice Subhash Upadhyay also asked the petitioner to submit suggestions highlighting gaps in the functioning of social media platforms and possible measures to prevent such incidents in the future.
