The Railways Ministry has ordered social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to remove over 280 videos related to the deadly stampede incident at New Delhi Railway Station, citing concerns over law and order. According to the media reports, the directive, issued on February 17, referred to ethical norms and platform policies, giving X a 36-hour deadline to take action.
About The Incident
The stampede occurred on February 15 which took lives of at least 18 people as thousands of passengers rushed to board trains to Prayagraj, where the Maha Kumbh is underway. The confusion unfolded at platforms 14 and 15, with pictures and videos of casualties and panic widely circulating online. The ministry’s notice warned that such content can disrupt railway operations, specifically with the current surge in Maha Kumbh-related travel.
The ministry’s notice said, “This is not only against the ethical norms but also against the content policy of x.com itself, as sharing of such videos may create an unwarranted law and order situation”. It further added that such content may affect the operations of Indian Railways due to the huge rush of trains these days, according to the report.
The ministry’s action follows a new directive issued on December 24, which granted the Railways Ministry’s executive director of information and publicity (Railway Board) the authority to issue takedown notices directly to social media platforms under Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act. As per the report, earlier, such requests had to be routed through the IT Ministry’s Section 69A blocking committee.
The February 17 notice said that the Railways Ministry was empowered under this provision to issue takedown orders “to remove/disable access to URLs, accounts, etc., where unlawful advertisements, endorsements, promotional content, etc., are published.”
It also cited Rule 3(1)(d) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. Under this rule, after receiving actual knowledge in the form of a court order or notification by an authorized agency, intermediaries must remove illegal content within 36 hours. Failure to comply can lead to loss of safe harbour protection under Rule 7 of the IT Rules, making platforms legally liable for the content they host.
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