Akhilesh orders crackdown on elements misusing social media

Rattled by the violence in Agra on Thursday following posting of objectionable posts on social media, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Friday ordered a crackdown on elements out to disrupt the social harmony in the state.

He said that the common people were using social media on a large scale but some anti-social elements were using these platforms to disrupt social harmony and peace and create tension by posting offensive material and photos on them.

The chief minister also instructed police to effectively curb the misuse of social media sites to foment trouble in the state and directed the state police chief to release a statewide Whatsapp number and also ensure wide publicity of this number to the people so as to curb the menace of offensive posts on social media.

The police department have issued a statewide whatsapp number 9454401002 and has appealed to the people to inform them if they spot any objectionable or inflammatory posts, material or pictures on social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp so that the nefarious designs of such elements do not succeed. The identity of the person who provides this information would be kept a secret, an official said.