Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh government has taken a controversial decision to take on individuals who make allegedly derogatory comments on social media.
Though the arrest of Mr Inturi Ravi Kiran from Hyderabad — said to be an admirer of the YSR Congress — was based on a complaint given by Assembly Secretary K. Saryanarayana, it was initiated by Telugu Desam MLC T.D. Janardhan.
Mr Janardhan forwarded the image that appeared in the ‘Political Punch’ page on Facebook to Council Chairman A. Chakrapani. He forwarded the image to the officials.
By arresting Mr Ravi Kiran and booking cases against him under the IT Act, the government has made it clear that there will be action against those commenting adversely against it on social media.
As the TD and the YSRC lock horns on every issue, social media is flooded with posts by the persons affiliated to both parties. Often these messages turn ugly, with filthy language and morphed images.
With Mr Kiran’s arrest, the AP government has decided to draw that line by acting up on those who are seen to be attacking TD leaders personally.
The timing of the arrests was significant: TD leader and IT minister Nara Lokesh had reportedly told the party leaders that there was a need to control the social media propaganda. This was re-asserted by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Friday.
Interestingly, the arrest have came a day after the Supreme Court made certain observations while hearing a similar case, that the freedom of speech cannot insult dignity of an individual. Earlier, the SC ruled that the admin of social media groups would be held responsible for the content.
We will not tolerate nasty comments: Chandrababu Naidu
AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has warned that the government will not tolerate objectionable posts on social media.
While inaugurating the Parishkara Vedika call centre at Guntupalli here on Friday, he said that the government would take measures to control objectionable posts directed against the government on social media sites.
He then went on to laud technology, which he said was playing a key role in development, so that every penny spent on public welfare is reaching beneficiaries with the help of technology. The government has set up this call centre to solve public issues in real time and it will also use this to get feedback on various welfare schemes directly from beneficiaries. IVRS and SMS based messages relating to government schemes will be sent from this centre.
The Andhra Pradesh State Planning Board and the AP Centre for Financial Systems and Services have come together to launch the 750- seat call centre in collaboration with Karvy Data Man
