The government has banned bulk SMS, MMS and content beyond 20KB for 15 days across the country after rumours and false depiction of violence lead to false scare and exodus of northeastern people from certain states. The Union home ministry has asked the department of telecommunication to issue necessary orders and ask telecom operators to implement the decision immediately. Significantly, the home ministry and security agencies have begun realtime monitoring of social networking sites to identify outfits and persons who are spreading rumours.
The rumours of threat to people of Northeast, misrepresentation of facts and morphed videos had found way to Internet and social media prompting the home ministry to step in. After the ban, SMS and MMS will not be allowed to more than five receivers at one go and data more than 20 KB being sent through mobile phones will be blocked. “We have banned bulk SMSes and MMSes for 15 days,” Union home secretary R.K. Singh said.
Many websites and blogs have come under the scanner and have been put under surveillance.
The blogs and websites with morphed pictures will be pulled out and action will be taken, an MHA official said, adding that all cases of reported threats to people of northeastern origin will be investigated. Officials said that a doctored MMS on the recent ethnic clashes in Assam provoked the violence across states.
Home minister Sushilkumar Shinde held a high-level late night meeting with Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar. He is believed to have discussed the situation in the state.
Around 600 personnel of Rapid Action Force are in Bengaluru to assist state police.
Around 600 RAF have also been sent to Chirang in Assam.