Facebook, Instagram Remove Indian Politician’s Post Revealing Rape Victim’s Identity

NEW DELHI — Social media sites Instagram and Facebook have removed Indian National Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s post that revealed the parents’ identity of a minor girl who was raped and murdered in Delhi, official sources said on Aug. 20.

“Instagram and Facebook removed Rahul Gandhi’s post that revealed the identity of the parents of a minor victim,” said sources.

Facebook had earlier issued a notice to the Indian National Congress leader in a complaint regarding a video posted on Instagram that disclosed the victim’s identity.

As per the notice, the posting of the video was regarded as “unlawful” under section 74 of Juvenile Justice Act 2015, section 23 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, and section 288A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

This comes after National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had asked Facebook to develop the action report on the video posted by Gandhi.

“Facebook has given us a reply. It stated that they have issued a notice to Gandhi and have asked to remove the post immediately,” said Priyank Kanoongo, chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights.

“After seeing every aspect such as the IT Act, POCSO, Juvenile Justice and CPCR, NCPCR will issue an order in a maximum time of two days.”

The Child Right’s body was asked to take ‘appropriate action’ against his profile for violating the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.

Twitter had also temporarily locked Rahul Gandhi’s account.

Over this, Rahul Gandhi released a video and alleged that the microblogging site is a “biased platform” and follows the government’s directions.

It was also alleged that Twitter had blocked around 5000 members of the Indian National Congress party.

Twitter later unlocked the account on Aug. 14. Twitter said that its rules are enforced judiciously and impartially for everyone on its service.

“The microblogging site would continue to take proactive action if its rules are violated,” said a Twitter spokesperson.

“We have taken proactive action on several hundred Tweets that posted an image that violated our Rules and may continue to do so in line with our range of enforcement options.”

On Aug. 1, a nine-year-old girl was allegedly raped and killed by a priest and three crematorium employees near the Delhi Cantonment in southwest Delhi.

Delhi Police registered a case against four accused based on the statement of the minor’s mother. She alleged that her daughter was raped, murdered, and cremated without their consent.

(With inputs from ANI)

Edited by Saptak Datta and Praveen Pramod Tewari



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