## Content Since the last week of December, I’ve been quietly filing away any news reports that refer to police cases, arrests, detentions, FIRs (first information reports, for those unfamiliar) for social media posts, or based on social media posts (i.e. something was recorded and shared - which then ‘went viral’ {see Related below} and led to action). For now, these are living on Notion Dashboard: [Tracking Arrests / Cases / FIRs / Threat(s) / Detentions related to posts on Social Media](https://www.notion.so/prateekwaghre/Tracking-Arrests-Cases-FIRs-Threat-s-Detentions-related-to-posts-on-Social-Media-fbd46a35aad6490a8b2b57966b9020bb). (_I am open to alternatives, Notion still seems super clunky and has a bunch of usability issues, but it is low-friction when it comes to sending links to a database that I can categorise later - while pulling out my hair)_ _**What Type of Cases will it include?**_ This is tricky, and can be subjective. But to act as a guideline - I will use _Narrative Harms_ as we defined in a Takshashila Working Paper on Categorisation of Harms Attributed to DCNs ([PDF Link](https://takshashila.org.in/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/TWP-Governance-of-DCNs-1-Harms-Categorisation-v1.0.pdf) - _Narrative Harms are described from pages 12-15_). [](https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7fb5727b-1638-4865-afc2-1043bc276e33_611x207.png) A by-product of this criteria is that individual cases of harassment, blackmail, cheating, etc., will probably not be included on the tracker. That should not be considered a comment on the consideration of their relative importance. I also realise that there are some caveats here: 1. As Rukmini S says in Chapter 1 of Whole Numbers and Half-Truths > Not just statistics, most news reporting on crime too emerges from the FIR. Apart from the occasional daring investigation, the standard Indian crime reporter's practice is to faithfully reproduce the contents of an FIR as fact, in part to keep the police establishment happy. This reliance on FIRs is fraught with problems. Alongside acts of great bravery and hard work in trying circumstances, there is also extreme venality in Indian police forces. And, alongside genuine crime, there are also complex sociological forces that drive people into police stations, forces that have little to do with true crime. **In short, FIRs alone say too little.** 2. Since it relies mainly on news reports in English, it should neither be considered exhaustive nor representative. It can only be considered indicative. Just because one state appears more frequently does not automatically mean that it is more prone to do doing this - it could just be that it gets reported on more. Which, by itself, is a good thing - I’d rather have these stories written than not. Ok, so what have I seen over the last 3 weeks? Well, the cases around the Dharam Sansad’s in Haridwar, Raipur and ‘Bulli Bai’ have gotten plenty of attention. So let’s try and look at some of those that may have gone by relatively unnoticed (based on my judgement - I could, of course, be wrong about this) - Among the more interesting ones was this story from Telangana, where the police implied a need for a license to operate a YouTube news channel. _I was not aware that this was a requirement_. [[Times of India](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/two-arrested-for-offensive-posts-on-youtube-channels/articleshow/88765667.cms)] > Karimnagar police arrested two persons for operating YouTube news channels without seeking permission from the authorities concerned and allegedly posting offensive content against political leaders. > > … > > According to Karimnagar police commissioner V Satyanarayana, two persons from Huzurabad were operating the channels claiming themselves as journalists and posting content which was offensive to sections of population. “They have been arrested and two logos and two cellphones were seized from their possession. We will not allow if someone claims that he or she is a journalist without an accrediation card or an authorisation from a media organisation. We formed a special team to prevent spread of misinformation and posting of abusive content on social media,” the police commissioner said.” While this story did not name the people nor the channels - another report indicates that on January 6th, “at least 40 journalists and content creators running Telugu YouTube news channels were reportedly arrested by the Telangana police”. This one references several sections of the law which were invoked [[The News Minute](https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/telangana-cops-crack-down-youtube-journalists-defamatory-content-159832)] > “Unlike Musham Srinivas, Dasari Srinivas, who runs the YouTube channel Kaloji TV, was booked by the Balanagar police under the Cyberabad Commissionerate. _**He was arrested under sections – 505 (1) (b) (with intent to cause alarm or fear to public), 505 (2) (statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes), 504 (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace) and 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc)**_ – for making critical comments against KCR and his daughter K Kavitha.” - Another one from Telangana, this time implying that NRIs can have their passports revoked [[The Hans India](https://www.thehansindia.com/news/cities/hyderabad/cyberabad-cp-stephen-ravindra-warns-nris-over-social-media-posts-723722)] > “Addressing a press conference, CP Stephen Ravindra said that strict actions will be taken against those who post controversial posts on Political, business, movie celebrities, innocent people, women and children. > > … > > He said that in addition to registering cases against those spreading fake news on social media, their passports will be seized and visas too will be cancelled as per the legal provisions.” The tracker has more from Telangana. I’m not listing them here for now. - Sticking to the threats/warnings beat, in late December, Kerala police issued a warning to admins of Whatsapp groups. There is some context here, this happened in the aftermath of the murders of political functionaries. > It has been noticed that several messages, inciting communal hatred, are being circulated through social media after the murders of the BJP functionary Ranjith Sreenivas and SDPI’s K S Shan earlier this week, Kant said here in a statement. > > “The admins of social media groups who permit discussions (inciting communal hatred) will be booked. The cyber wing of the state police has been asked to intensify its surveillance in all districts to check such propaganda,” he said. Notably, around the same time, the Madras HC upheld a previous Bombay HC judgement which said that Whatsapp admins could not be held liable [[LiveLaw - potential paywall](https://www.livelaw.in/news-updates/whatsapp-group-administrator-not-vicariously-liable-for-objectionable-posts-by-members-madras-hc-188416)] - Some whole numbers from Maharashtra [[Free Press Journal](https://www.freepressjournal.in/mumbai/maharashtra-cyber-cell-reports-466-cases-of-fake-news-hate-speeches-in-last-one-week)]: > Police said that of the total 1,121 cases registered in connection to the fake news and hate speech in the state, over 1,055 were registered as cognizable offences while 66 were non-cognizable (NC). The cyber police made a total of 367 arrests, wherein 1,049 were identified, and notices were issued to them under the Criminal Procedure Code. The Maharashtra cyber police have made 367 arrests since the pandemic began for spreading fake news, rumours and hate speech in cyberspace. _**The state cyber police in the last week itself reported 466 cases of hate speech and communal crimes over social media.**_ - If you go through the tracker, it is clear (and not surprising) that law enforcement authorities tend to act against opposition voices. _But, Prateek, why are you even doing this?_ Great question! I had attempted to do this via a Twitter thread in 2020, and got to the mid-30s before it lost steam. [Prateek Waghre @prateekwaghre Vinod Dua now, but this is a trend - and it's not limited to journalists.. I track the term "fake news" among many others via Google Alerts for @MisDisMalInfo. These are results that also included 'booked', 'arrested' and 'FIR'. Thread 👇](https://twitter.com/prateekwaghre/status/1269275993073577984) [timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/del…](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/delhi-fir-against-vinod-dua-for-spreading-fake-news/articleshow/76226657.cms)[Delhi: FIR against Vinod Dua for spreading ‘fake news’ | Delhi News - Times of IndiaThe Crime Branch of Delhi Police has registered an FIR against journalist Vinod Dua for allegedly circulating fake news regarding the Northeast Delhitimesofindia.indiatimes.com](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/delhi-fir-against-vinod-dua-for-spreading-fake-news/articleshow/76226657.cms)[ June 6th 2020 1 Retweet5 Likes ](https://twitter.com/prateekwaghre/status/1269275993073577984) This is all building up towards answering the inevitable question of _‘should India have an anti-disinformation law?’._ A question that was sparked off by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology’s recommendation to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to study such laws in other countries. See [54: Committee Reports](https://techpolicy.substack.com/p/of-committee-reports-dangerous-algorithms), where I ended with: > All of this is to say is that we’re already (selectively) taking a lot of action based on what someone perceives to be false information, inappropriate comments through social media posts. We shouldn’t be too eager to go down the road of exploring blunt legislative instruments that are going shift the power dynamic further away from societies. At the very least, we should study existing laws and jurisprudence on the ‘_prosecution of a lie_’ first before we contemplate isomorphic mimicry. Ideally, this should be the Ministry of Law and Justice’s job. So, coming back to this tracker. First, I am trying to understand the various ways in which the Indian state prosecutes false information, hate speech, etc., in the context of social media posts. Second, are there clear patterns of harms or benefits we can see once this builds into a sizeable resource? **I am happy to get more feedback on this.** Feel free to reach out over email, or [Twitter DM](https://twitter.com/prateekwaghre) (if you don’t have my email address) _Related:_ - On the dynamics of ‘going viral’ - Jyoti Yadav has an important report on the role of video and virality in drawing attention to caste-based atrocities [[ThePrint](https://theprint.in/features/dalits-in-rajasthan-have-new-tool-against-atrocities-phones/802429/)] (worth noting that it is not all good news though - Kranzberg’s First Law: Technology is neither good nor bad; nor is it neutral) > The smartphone video has become the latest weapon in the centuries-old caste war in Rajasthan. It is being used by Dalits to shine a light on atrocities committed on them by dominant castes who continue to oppress those lower down in the hierarchy. Tech-savvy Dalit youth are using their newfound, hand-held power to inform the law and order bureaucracy, even in the most remote villages. But virality is crucial. The police investigation only picked up momentum when Director General of Police (DGP) Mohan Lal Lather intervened after the video gained thousands of views. ## Related Notes * [[FIR-ing Line Series]] ## Colophon %% title:: FIR-ing Line 1 - 2022-01-17 type:: [[output]] tags:: url:: file:: creator:: Prateek Waghre %% created:: 2022-01-17 status:: [[bean]]