A First Information Report (FIR) has been filed by the Ahmedabad police’s cyber unit against a X user, namely Payal Gupta whose handle is “MissPayalGupta”, for disseminating false information via sharing a video that allegedly “tarnished” the state’s name. According to her account, she is a resident of Bengaluru.
The FIR claims that the Payal Gupta has been charged under section 340, which deals with forged documents and electronic records and imposes penalties on those who use them fraudulently, as well as Section 353(2), that deals with the creation, publication, or dissemination of statements that are meant to sow discord, hatred, or animosity between various groups, of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Act.
The police responded, when Harsh Sanghavi, the state minister for home affairs, noticed the post on the microblogging site and requested the police to take action. Sanghavi wrote, “Attention lie spreaders! This video isn’t from Gujarat! instructed @dgpgujarat to take strict and immediate actions as per law. Let’s stop the spread of misinformation!”
She shared a video with a comment, “After the accident, the patient was brought to the hospital where due to lack of space, he died in agony on the floor!! The video is said to be from Gujarat”.
According to FIR, the video was posted from Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, and not from Gujarat. She has deleted the post. According to the report, Gupta uploaded the video without fact-checking it “with a criminal intention to harm the reputation of health services of Gujarat government so that people’s trust in Gujarat’s health services decline and create hatred and anger”.
Similarly, Prahlad Dalwadi, a Congress supporter and social media user, was also arrested by the Ahmedabad crime branch in August for posting a purportedly fake Chinese video of pothole-filled roads that purported to show the state of Gujarati roads.
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