WHATSAPP USERS BE CAREFUL
If you are the admin of a WhatsApp or Facebook group there is bad news for you. An order issued jointly by the District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police in Varanasi says that the administrator of a social-media group will be held responsible for any content that is posted on the group.
If you are the admin of a WhatsApp or Facebook group there is bad news for you. An order issued jointly by the District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police in Varanasi says that the administrator of a social-media group will be held responsible for any content that is posted on the group.
Varanasi District Magistrate Yogeshwar Ram Mishra and Superintendent of
Police Nitin Tiwari issued a joint order declaring that an FIR can be
filed against a social-media group administrator if there is communally
divisive or factually incorrect content posted on the group. The order
has been issued to curb fake news, doctored photos, and offensive videos
from being posted.
"There are several groups on social media which are named on newsgroups
and also groups with other names which are propagating news and
information which is not authentic. These are being forwarded without
cross-checking," the joint order stated.
The order states that the group administrator should only add those
people to the group who he or she know about. It also says that
administrators were responsible for the content being posted on the
group. However, last year Delhi High Court had ruled that WhatsApp
admins were not responsible for the content posted on their groups.
"In the event of inaction from the group admin, he or she will be
considered guilty and action will be taken against the group admin," the
order says. "Such a post must also be reported to the nearest police
station."
Also, last year, the District Magistrate of Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir
had issued a circular which said that all WhatsApp newsgroups in the
district needed to be registered with the DM's office.