The Maharashtra cyber police has identified over 17,810 objectionable social media posts since 2020, of which they have removed 9630 posts by persuading intermediaries such as Facebook, Instagram and X. These include inflammatory posts, posts falling under the ambit of hate speech, morphed photos or videos of former or present political leaders, and posts spreading rumours or misinformation.
Every day, someone or the other posts objectionable content on social media to create communal tension. To prevent any tension in society due to such posts, the Maharashtra Cyber Police keeps a close watch on objectionable posts through its social media lab.
Special IGP Yashasvi Yadav of the Maharashtra Cyber Department told Free Press Journal that they keep an eye on objectionable posts spreading social discord based on religion and caste on social media. Whenever they come across such objectionable posts, the Cyber Department immediately contacts the relevant social media platform to try and get the post deleted. In this matter, they hope for cooperation from all social media platforms.
Inside The Maharashtra Cyber Police Social Media Lab
In this social media lab, a total of 40 people work who keep an eye on controversial posts coming on social media 24x7.
A cyber police officer explained that a team monitoring social media continuously searches for objectionable posts using certain key words. Some software also assists in searching for objectionable posts using keywords.
An officer said that just like this year when the idol was installed in the Ram temple in Ayodhya, his team was on high alert and social media was being closely monitored. During the Maratha agitation too, the cyber police was monitoring social media to ensure that no objectionable posts are made to create unrest between the two communities.
Maharashtra Cyber Police's Vigilance During Political Controversies And Elections
On social media, there are often controversial posts inspired by politics. These posts frequently aim to defame politicians and parties. Cyber police keep a close watch on such activities. Over the past two and a half years, there has been dissent within the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party, and the term "Gaddar" was being used on social media. Cyber police were monitoring this as well.
Lok Sabha elections are being held and political statements are also made. In such an atmosphere, some mischievous people post objectionable content on any leader and tag this leader in the post. In such a situation, the cyber police remains alert so that no tension situation arises. The Election Commission has instructed the Maharashtra Cyber Police to keep an eye on objectionable posts on social media during the Lok Sabha elections. So far, approximately 150 objectionable posts have been deleted by the cyber police since the announcement of election dates.
Free Press Journal has statistics indicating how many objectionable posts Maharashtra Cyber Police has deleted from 2020 until now.
Statistics Of Objectionable Post being Flagged Off (2020-2024)
In 2020, the cyber police flagged a total of 5,339 objectionable posts on social media, requesting the respective social media platforms to delete them. Out of these, 3,361 objectionable posts have been deleted, while 1,978 posts are still pending deletion.
In 2021, the Cyber Police flagged a total of 6045 objectionable posts on social media. They requested the relevant social media platforms to delete them, out of which 3730 posts have been deleted, and 2315 posts are yet to be deleted.
In 2022, the Cyber Police identified a total of 2138 objectionable posts on social media. Requests were made to the respective social media platforms to delete them, out of which 1249 posts have been deleted, and 889 posts are yet to be deleted.
In 2023, the cyber police identified a total of 3,119 objectionable posts on social media. Requests have been made to the relevant social media platforms to delete them, out of which 1,140 posts have been deleted, and 1,979 posts are yet to be deleted.
So far in the year 2024, a total of 1179 objectionable posts have been flagged. Requests have been made to the respective social media platforms to delete them. Out of these, 150 objectionable posts have been deleted, while 1019 posts are yet to be deleted.
