Govt steps up to police anti-women posts on social networks

Bengaluru: The government on Wednesday lept into action to order the blocking and removal of social media handles allegedly targeting ‘Hindu women’ against the backdrop of the Mumbai police arresting and detaining two individuals in connection with the Bulli Bai App case.

IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday morning responded to a post by Twitter user Anshul Saxena, saying that a contentious Telegram channel had been blocked and that the government is working with state police authorities to ensure action is taken.

“Channel blocked. Government of India coordinating with police authorities of states for action,” Vaishnaw tweeted.



Minister of State for IT and Electronics Rajeev Chandrasekhar also chimed in, responding to another post by Saxena with four links to Facebook pages allegedly targeting Hindu women, stating that Facebook-parent Meta would be asked to remove the pages.

“Have directed @GoI_MeitY team to inform @Meta and have it taken down,” Chandrasekhar tweeted in response to yet another Twitter user tagging him on the post by Saxena.

The government's move to weed out social media channels and groups targeting women comes soon after the Mumbai police arrested a 21-year old male student in Bengaluru and an 18-year old woman from Uttarakhand in relation to the Bulli Bai app.

The Mumbai police had filed a first information report (FIR) following complaints that morphed photos of hundreds of Muslim women were uploaded for ‘auction’ on the app that was hosted on GitHub with the intention to degrade and harass them.