FIR against Twitter, several journalists in Muslim elderly video case

We found a video on social media in which an elderly man, Abdul Samad, a resident of Bulandshahr, UP, is being attacked by some people: Police

Ground Report | New Delhi: The Ghaziabad Police of Uttar Pradesh has registered an FIR against Twitter and several journalists for breaking communal harmony. This action has been taken in the case of an attack on a Muslim elder on June 5. However, an elder named Abdul Samad has claimed in a video that his beard was shaved and he was forced to chant 'Jai Shri Ram' with 'Vande Mataram'.

Abdul Samad had also alleged that he was taken towards the forest and was kept hostage there. The FIR, which also named author Saba Naqvi and Congress leaders Salman Nizami, Shama Mohammed, and Muskoor Usmani, alleged that the accused did not verify their tweets on the incident and thus gave it a "communal angle".

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Ghaziabad police officer said, "We found a video on social media in which an elderly man, Abdul Samad, a resident of Bulandshahr, UP, is being attacked by some people. When we investigated, we found that he was on June 5. Had come from Loni-border area. From there the amulet maker Abdul Samad went to Hajipur village. He already knew the accused. People had called him. 

IPC sections 153 (inciting riot), 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups), 295 A (acting with intent to outrage religious feelings), 505 (mischief) against Twitter and eight others in the case. An FIR has been registered under 120B (criminal conspiracy).

Apart from this, online news website 'The Wire', Congress leaders Salman Nizami, Sama Mohammed and Muskoor Usmani have also been named as accused. They are accused of giving communal color to the matter without verifying the facts. Police say the tweets were intended to disturb communal harmony. 

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It has been said in the police complaint that clarification was also given by the police in this matter, then the tweets were not deleted nor did Twitter take any action on it. The Ghaziabad Police has also filed a case against Twitter and this is the first case against Twitter after the new rule of the Central Government.

On June 5 itself, the central government had told the microblogging platform Twitter about the new rules in detail and asked them to implement them. It was to be implemented within a week, but even after the assurance, this deadline has expired. According to The Hindu, Twitter may lose its intermediate status. Now Twitter itself will be responsible for any content.

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