Odisha police removes 420 offensive contests related to election from social media platforms
Bhubaneswar, May 28 (FN Agency) The Social Media Monitoring Cell of Odisha Police, has removed 420 offensive contents related to the General Election 2024 from various social media platforms, Official sources here said on Tuesday. Apart from that, 5 FIRs have also been registered relating to violations on social media platforms and are under various stages of investigation. The IT Professionals have joined hands with Odisha Police as Cyber Volunteers in bolstering these efforts, sources said. These actions have been taken against various instances of social media misconduct, violation of model code of conduct for elections, or against those violating the law. The action has been taken across multiple platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and X (formerly Twitter).
These posts,originating from supporters of various political parties and other groups, were identified as potentially derogatory or abusive, inflammatory or hateful, highlighting the importance of proactive monitoring in maintaining a peaceful environment. The Social Media Unit of the Crime Branch has been functional for quite some time. However as per the direction of the Election Commission, Social Media Cells were formed and activated in all police districts. Police sources said 256 posts/accounts of objectionable content were removed from Facebook, 154 from Instagram, and 9 from YouTube. Apart from these, around 950 handles are under surveillance across the state by various Social Media Cells of Odisha Police.
The Cyber Crime Unit of the Crime Branch is also actively spreading awareness among the public against cybercrimes and financial frauds through daily posts on its official social media accounts @cybercopodisha. The Crime Branch has appealed to citizens to use social media decently and appropriately without harming other individuals and organizations. The Cyber cops engaged in cyber patrolling are keeping a watch on deviant handles and legal action would be taken at the appropriate moment, the police warned and requested people to stay away from social media misuse to save one from getting on to the wrong side.