New Delhi, Aug 13 (IANS) A day after four Twitter handles run by the ISI or the Pakistan Army were removed for circulating fake news on the Kashmir situation, the micro-blogging platform on Tuesday said it does not comment on the deletion of individual accounts.
Sources told IANS on Monday that at the behest of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Twitter had removed four such malicious accounts and another four were in the process of being suspended.
These twitter accounts, including one in name of separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, were being operated from outside the Valley.
“We do not comment on individual accounts for privacy and security reasons. Legal requests made to Twitter are published bi-annually in our Twitter Transparency Report,” a Twitter spokesperson told IANS.
According to reports, the list of accounts sent to Twitter for removal were: .@sageelaniii — Syed Ali Geelani; @kashmir787 — Voice of Kashmir; @Red4Kashmir — MadihaShakil Khan; @arsched — Arshad Sharif; @mscully94 — Mary Scully; @sadaf2k19; @RiazKha61370907 and RiazKha723.
There has been a spurt in the spread of fake news and misinformation amid continued lockdown of Jammu and Kashmir following abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution on August 5.
The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on Monday dismissed as “malicious” a tweet by a Pakistani journalist about an alleged rift between the central force and the Jammu and Kashmir Police.
“The malicious content of this tweet is absolutely baseless and untrue. As always, all the security forces of India are working with coordination and bonhomie. Patriotism and our tricolour lie at the core of our hearts and existence, even when the color of our uniforms may differ,” the CRPF had tweeted.
The Indian government is also contemplating legal action against media outlets for reporting fabricated and baseless news relating to developments in Jammu and Kashmir.
–IANS
na/pg