Hyderabad's Fake Youtubers Face Police Crackdown for Extortion and Fake News
Hyderabad:Many Youtubers who misuse the power of social media have become a menace in the city. They are thriving by threatening and blackmailing the common people and extorting money from them, or simply by spreading fake news to incite anger.
In a recent incident, on the night of September 19, some Youtubers reported that a fire broke out at a religious place in the Old City during a Milad-Un-Nabi procession. It turned out to be an accidental fire due to a fault in a generator.
"Such reports created tension, we will take action against these YouTubers for spreading false news that disturbed communal harmony, said a senior police officer.
An investigation by Deccan Chronicle found that most of these YouTubers are semi-literate. Their most important question to the victim in any crime on incident is: "What is your demand to the government?"
"They have a strong nexus with anti-social elements and rowdy sheeters, said Mohammed Azam, who was extorted by some Youtubers.
Azam started construction of his house recently. “Even before I raised the pillars, a group of social media persons reached my place and demanded `5 lakh. Otherwise, they would not allow construction material to reach the site. Despite having permissions and relevant documents, I had to pay them `2.5 lakh," Azam said.
The YouTubers turn up with mikes with unrecognisable logos to pretend they are newspersons. “The government and Press Academy should take this matter seriously," said a former journalist from Ramnaspura. “They are damaging the reputation of genuine social media activists.”
Mohammed Saleem and his wife were extorted by the Youtubers who profited on his marital discord. "A few weeks back, my wife went to her mother's place after a quarrel. The next day, two persons claiming to be mediapersons approached me, recorded my statement and assured me that justice would be done. Later, I came to know that they also had gone to my wife and recorded her statement. They collected `10,000 from me and `5,000 from my wife.” Saleem said.
Elders in the family reunited the couple. “When we asked the Youtubers to delete our videos, they took another `30,000,” Saleem said who runs a shop in Yakutpura.
The city police recently issued a stern warning. "YouTube channel owners who are causing problems to people will face serious action,” police commissioner C.V. Anand told Deccan Chronicle. He warned the unauthorised YouTubers from spreading false news.
Anand said the Special Branch and cybercrime teams were keeping track of fake YouTubers. “If required, we will use our city task force and take stringent action. Justice will be done to the victims,” Anand said.
