Social media posts and content that promotes disharmony will be a criminal offence under Section 144 of the CRPC in Jammu and Kashmir, DGP R R Swain said on Thursday. Posting such messages or videos by terrorists, separatists or other anti-national elements will be a crime, he reportedly added.
A new provision under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CRPC) will be introduced into effect, the J&K director general of police said.
According to the senior police official, sharing such content will also attract legal consequences. Civilians should, instead, report such social media content to the nearest police station, he reportedly said.
"Under (Section)144 CrPC, we have decided to bring a law on the posting of any type of content message, video, audio which will instigate communal disharmony and terrorise or threaten anyone.
"Whether they are terrorists, separatists, or anti-national elements, posting such messages and videos will be a crime as per the law," news agency PTI reported DGP Swain as telling reporters in Jammu.
The DGP said before the law is enacted it will be placed in the public domain for feedback.
"People who post videos, including those aimed to harm the respect of the Prophet (Muhammad), and those who forward it will be committing a crime. We will index such people, ensuring they face disadvantages for having done such a thin," PTI quoted him as stating.
Swain said that Pakistani social media handles generate and post content that is shared by some elements locally to create trouble and harm peace.
Students of Srinagar's National Institute of Technology (NIT) took to the streets on Tuesday over an allegedly blasphemous social media post against prophet Muhammad by a student of the institute. The protests subsided after top NIT officials assured action against the author of the social media post asked the police to initiate legal action against him.
