As if hate and propaganda by those radicalised (from both majority and minority communities) was not enough, now there's impersonation that needs to be identified before propaganda warfare can be tackled. Following complaints by right-wing organisations, Bagalkot Police, on Thursday, arrested a man accused of opening and operating a Facebook account under the Muslim name and identity of Mushtaq Ali. Then on, he regularly posted hate speeches and hate content against Hindu community.
On a complaint by the MLC, the cyber wing of the police caught his digital footprint and found out his real identity. The 31-year-old Siddharoodha Shrikanth Nirale is, reportedly, a resident of Gokal taluk of Belagavi district and had even threatened BJP MLC D.S Arun. He'd post communally sensitive comments in response to news reports and announcements by political leaders, including a series of hateful messages after the murder of Bajrang Dal activist Harsha in Shivamogga.
Siddharoodha also posted a message on BJP legislator D.S Arun's media handle commenting, "You may think that a Hindu activist is dead today. But in the coming days, we will target your wife and children." To build on his profile and make it appear real, Siddharoodha also used some pictures from the social media profiles of random people. The accused belongs to a farming community and apart from cultivating crops, his family also runs a nursery.
The big question
The man, who was produced in court and remanded in judicial custody, is reflective of a much larger issue of fake accounts and hateful speeches. There are thousands of fake Mushtaq Alis and Ram Manohars operating under fake identities and spreading hate, communalism and misinformation. The regular hateful posts and screenshots, in no time, get shared on other platforms. So much so that every law and order situation gets a communal twist to suit the agenda and from thereon, it's a downhill ride. In several media interviews, Bagalkot SP Lokesh Jagalasar, requested people not to believe everything they read or see on social media.
When the Supreme Court intervened
Taking note of a plea, a year ago, the Supreme Court issued a notice to the Centre and Twitter to check content on Twitter and social media accounts spreading hatred through fake news and communal speeches. The plea argued that a total number of Twitter handles in India were around 35 million and a total number of Facebook accounts were 350 million and according to experts around 10 per cent of Twitter handles (3.5 million) and 10 per cent of Facebook accounts (35 million) were fake/bogus/duplicate accounts. The petitioner also argued on the dangerous outcomes of these accounts. How they were the root cause of many riots and were being used to promote communalism.
