Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police arrested an accused for posting misleading and communally sensitive posts on social media. The police booked a suo motu case.

The accused has been identified by Hyderabad Cybercrime police as a 33-year-old resident of Hyderabad. The police have seized the mobile phone, which was used in the commission of the offence.

In a statement, Hyderabad cyber crime police said, “The accused, with the intention of creating communal tension among different religions, has created photos of sexually explicit content, remixed images of religious beliefs, which were controversial, and spread rumours and blamed his own religion and circulated the posts on social media accounts through fake IDs”. 

Going further into the case details, on Saturday, when the complainant was browsing Instagram, Facebook and other social media platforms, he noticed certain disturbing morphed images created with the support of an AI tool which contain sexually explicit content, remix images of religious beliefs and circulated on social media platforms like Instagram and Face Fook. 

“The content was shared through fake user IDs, adding derogatory and abusive remarks against one community. More concerning, the content is sexually explicit, blasphemous, and communally sensitive in nature and appears to be deliberately intended to outrage the modesty of one community, women, incite hatred, or provoke enmity between religious communities," added the complainant.

According to the police, the alleged posts suggest an attempt to create public alarm and disrupt communal harmony, particularly in the Hyderabad City area. Given the current social context, such content has the potential to lead to public disorder, a breach of peace, and heightened communal tensions. The circulation of such provocative material on public platforms like Facebook and Instagram is deeply concerning and warrants immediate attention.

Modus Operandi

The accused has created morphed images through Artificial Intelligence (AI), which contain sexually explicit content, remix images related to the religious beliefs of one community, with the intention of creating communal tension. He impersonated himself as a person belonging to another community and was trying to mislead the public through sensitive posts. 

Investigation revealed that the accused created social media accounts with fake profiles, which looked like other community accounts, and posted them publicly through the said fake social media accounts and circulated them. Believing it to be true, around 1,500 persons turned out to be his followers. 

Public Advisory

The public are requested not to believe social media posts related to communal violence, spreading rumours against one community. The government and law enforcement agencies are continuously monitoring social media activities. Individuals found guilty of misusing social media to defame, threaten, harass, or manipulate public opinion will face stringent legal action, including but not limited to arrest, prosecution, imprisonment, and fines under appropriate laws. There is no tolerance for misinformation and hate speech: spreading false information, rumours, hate speech, or content that promotes communal disharmony and violence is a punishable offence. All activities on social media platforms are subject to laws governing freedom of speech, defamation, cybercrime, and public order. Misuse or abuse of these platforms will be dealt with strictly under the applicable laws. Victims of cybercrime fraud can immediately dial 1930 or visit cybercrime.gov.in