HOAX BOMB THREATS
NEW DELHI, Oct 26: Amid a spate of hoax bomb threats to domestic airlines, the central government has issued an advisory to social media platforms such as Meta and X to promptly remove misinformation, report threats, and assist authorities within stipulated timelines.
The Centre has also reminded intermediaries about their obligations under IT rules and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and warned of “consequential action” if norms are not complied with.
Talking tough with the social media intermediaries, the government said platforms are obligated under IT Rules, 2021 to timely assist authorised government agencies in investigations and cybersecurity “not later than 72 hours”.
The advisory made it amply clear that any non-compliance with ‘due diligence’ requirements will lead to revocation of protection (the safe harbour shield against third party content) under section 79 and may invite “consequential action” under any law. Turning up the heat on intermediaries, the Ministry of Electronics and IT’s (MeitY) advisory underlined the responsibility of social media platforms to crack down on spread of hoax bomb threats. Dubbing the hoax bomb threats as misinformation, the advisory said it is massively disrupting the public order, operations of airlines and security of travellers.
MeitY stressed that social media platforms must adhere to the IT Act, 2000, the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 and that these platforms are required to promptly remove unlawful content to maintain public order and security.
The latest move by IT Ministry assumes significance as more than 275 flights operated by the Indian carriers have received hoax bomb threats in the past 12 days. Most of the threats were issued through social media. On Friday alone, over 25 domestic and international flights operated by Indian carriers received bomb threats.
An Umroi-bound SpiceJet flight from New Delhi was forced to make an emergency landing at the Guwahati Airport following a bomb threat on Friday.
Officials from AAI confirmed that a SpiceJet flight from New Delhi to Umroi carrying 75 passengers made an emergency touchdown at the Guwahati Airport at around 1 pm on Friday.
Confirming that no explosives were found inside the flight, officials informed that the threat came from an X (formerly Twitter) account and the Air Traffic Control alerted the security personnel after which the flight made an emergency landing in Guwahati. (PTI)