Shinde crushing media: Social or Electronic, it’s still not okay

Sushilkumar Shinde has sought to stem the rising tide of wrath at his remark -  that he would 'crush' electronic media that were running an anti-Congress campaign - by saying that he meant social media instead.

"My comments were on Social Media....it was with regards to the issue related to the NE students who were being targeted in Hyderabad and Karnataka," he said on Tuesday. "It's totally wrong, they are maligning me. I have never said such things in my forty years as an MP. Why will I say it now? The media is my friend."

The remark in question, made at a rally in Solapur, was:

PTI

"Youngsters should be aware of this propaganda of electronic media. Since I have the intelligence department with me, now I know the source of this propaganda. We have covertly put a stop to it. In the last four months there have been efforts by the media to provoke us (Congress). We will crush such elements in the electronic media, which are indulging in false propaganda, if it does not stop"

And while Shinde's hasty backtracking may smooth over a few very ruffled feathers within the media, who have been lately been coming under attack by a number of prominent personalities, the fact that he said he 'meant' social media is no less problematic. Here's why:

Firstly, his allusion to how the government is using 'intelligence' to 'covertly' put a stop to 'propaganda' is alarming in itself, pointing to an almost NSA like attitude towards social media. Does this mean that in addition to what is already public on Twitter, the government is also using intelligence to get information on what we post on more private forums like Facebook as well? And do these 'covert' operations violate privacy laws?

The fact that it is the Home Minister of the country who is saying this makes these questions all the more valid, and he should be asked to clarify.

Secondly, his comment that social media (we're taking it as a given that he meant social media and not electronic media here) should be crushed, further exemplifies the deeply problematic understanding and relationship that the present government has with social media.

Shinde is not wrong to point out that social media can be problematic and used to spread propaganda and rumours. This was seen to be the case in not just Karnataka, which saw an exodus of Northeast citizens after rumours spread on social media warned that they would be attacked, but also in Muzaffarnagar, where the riots last year were reportedly fanned by a video on social media that purportedly showed a Muslim mob lynching a Hindu boy which went viral. It was later found out that the video in question was not even filmed in India, but by then the damage had already been done.

However, the solution to combat this situation cannot simply be to 'crush' social media. While it certainly presents new challenges to the government, especially in terms of law and order and propaganda, the fact remains that the government cannot simply make social media go away. And technologically it's almost impossible. Where there is a block, there is always a proxy. And let's face it. The government has not proved itself tech savvy enough to be able to block entire social media sites.

What the government needs is a social media strategy and more effective ways of combatting rumours that go viral online. A Congress Khidkee is not the way to go about it. And neither is the draconian section 66A that is framed in vague and sweeping language, which allows law enforcement authorities to interpret it in a subjective manner.

Shinde's statements are no less absurd and problematic than that of his peer Kapil Sibal, who wanted a 'pre-screening' of content by social media before they allowed users to post content on their sites. And it shows a woefully laughable lack of understanding on as to how modern day technology and networking works. 

Perhaps, it is time for Shinde to 'pre-screen' his ideas before airing them in public.

Delhi HC asks Kejriwal for response on poll expense plea

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to file a reply within two weeks on a plea seeking cancellation of his election for exceeding the expenditure limit in last December's assembly polls.

Kejriwal during a dharna in Delhi. Naresh Sharma/Firstpost

Justice Vipin Sanghi, granting two more weeks time to Kejriwal, posted the matter for 17 March.

The court had earlier sought Kejriwal's response on petitions by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Vijender Gupta and Arti Mehra alleging that Kejriwal and former minister Somnath Bharti spent beyond the statutory limit of Rs 14 lakh.

IANS

Central govt yet to decide on date for Telangana formation day

Hyderabad: Nearly a week after parliament passed a bill for bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, the central government is yet to decide on the day when two states will formally come into being. The union home ministry has summoned Chief Secretary PK Mohanty to Delhi Wednesday for a meeting, which is likely to give some clarity on the day when Telangana will come into being.

The central officials are expected to gather information from Mohanty about the preparedness of the state bureaucracy to implement the bifurcation. The top bureaucrat will give his report on how prepared is the bureaucracy to run the affairs of the two states and handle law and order, official sources said.

The chief secretary is also likely to brief the home ministry about the preparedness to hold elections in two states. Mohanty already held talks with officials of various departments and gathered information about the cadre to be divided between the two states - Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

TRS activists celebrate after the passage of Telangana Bill in the Rajya Sabha, in Hyderabad on Thursday. PTI

The centre will issue a gazette notification after deciding the appointed day and this is likely before the Election Commission announces the schedule for Lok Sabha elections.

Union minister Jairam Ramesh has already stated that the appointed day will be so fixed to enable preparatory work relating to distribution of cadre, finance, assets and liabilities is completed satisfactorily. He hinted that the appointed day may be three months from the date of notification as in the case of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand.

The assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh are due along with the Lok Sabha elections. Since it may take three months for the two states to formally come into being, the assembly elections may not be held simultaneously with Lok Sabha polls.

Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) is demanding that the elections should be held in two separate states. The central government may impose President's rule or extend the term of the assembly by a couple of months before conducting the assembly elections.

The appointed day will be crucial for installing a new government and for conducting the elections. The centre is likely to give some clarity after the meeting on Wednesday. Jairam Ramesh, who was member of Group of Ministers (GoM) on Telangana, said two panels were already constituted to distribute IAS cadre and state cadre officials between the two states.

The cadre distribution may prove an uphill task as more than 84,000 state employees are to be allotted to two states.

The distribution of assets and liabilities is another big task on hand for the union home ministry. It has already gathered information from departments concerned about the state's finance, assets and liabilities. Some groundwork was done when GoM held consultations with various stakeholders for drafting the bill.

As per the bill passed in parliament, the assets and liabilities will be distributed in proportion to the population.

IANS

AAP betraying people, working to destabilise country: BJP

New Delhi: BJP on Tuesday alleged that AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal was the "greatest liar of the century" and accused his party of working to destabilise the country.

AAP's Arvind Kejriwal

"Kejriwal is levelling false charges against Narendra Modi, but he should say for which foreign country he is working? Is he a CIA agent, or is he working for other foreign agencies?" said state BJP chief Harsh Vardhan.

He was responding to the challenge thrown down to Modi on the black money issue on Sunday by Kejriwal during a rally at Haryana's Rohtak.

"(AAP) could not manage a small state like Delhi, how can they be given the responsibility of managing the whole county? This party is working to destabilise India, spreading anarchy, communalism and disaffection among the people. Its agenda is very dangerous," Vardhan said.

He demanded that Kejriwal and AAP leader Manish Sisodia explain the alleged foreign donations received by their party.

"They (AAP) are mum on this issue. They entered the public field with the help of Lokpal movement under the leadership of Anna Hazare. After that they disregarded Hazare and formed an alliance with Congress for the sake of power," he said.

Accusing Kejriwal of "betraying" the people of Delhi, he said that after he had formed the government in Delhi, his party realised that it was beyond their capacity to run the show, and hence they resigned.

"Before forming a political party, Kejriwal and Sisodia received lakhs of dollars from Ford Foundation in the name of NGOs, namely Parivartan, Sampoorn Parivartan, Kabir, etc. The whole world knows that it works at the behest of American intelligence agency, CIA," he alleged.

He further charged that, "through providing financial assistance, Ford Foundation works to destabilise developing and undeveloped countries and spread anarchy with the help of NGOs present in those countries.

"The Magsaysay prize is also awarded at the instance of the US and CIA. These agencies use such awards to serve their purpose."

PTI

Shinde’s ‘clarification’: It’s not ok to ‘crush’ social media either

Sushilkumar Shinde has sought to stem the rising tide of wrath at his remark -  that he would 'crush' electronic media that were running an anti-Congress campaign - by saying that he meant social media instead.

"My comments were on Social Media....it was with regards to the issue related to the NE students who were being targeted in Hyderabad and Karnataka," he said on Tuesday. "It's totally wrong, they are maligning me. I have never said such things in my forty years as an MP. Why will I say it now? The media is my friend."

The remark in question, made at a rally in Solapur, was:

PTI

"Youngsters should be aware of this propaganda of electronic media. Since I have the intelligence department with me, now I know the source of this propaganda. We have covertly put a stop to it. In the last four months there have been efforts by the media to provoke us (Congress). We will crush such elements in the electronic media, which are indulging in false propaganda, if it does not stop"

And while Shinde's hasty backtracking may smooth over a few very ruffled feathers within the media, who have been lately been coming under attack by a number of prominent personalities, the fact that he said he 'meant' social media is no less problematic. Here's why:

Firstly, his allusion to how the government is using 'intelligence' to 'covertly' put a stop to 'propaganda' is alarming in itself, pointing to an almost NSA like attitude towards social media. Does this mean that in addition to what is already public on Twitter, the government is also using intelligence to get information on what we post on more private forums like Facebook as well? And do these 'covert' operations violate privacy laws?

The fact that it is the Home Minister of the country who is saying this makes these questions all the more valid, and he should be asked to clarify.

Secondly, his comment that social media (we're taking it as a given that he meant social media and not electronic media here) should be crushed, further exemplifies the deeply problematic understanding and relationship that the present government has with social media.

Shinde is not wrong to point out that social media can be problematic and used to spread propaganda and rumours. This was seen to be the case in not just Karnataka, which saw an exodus of Northeast citizens after rumours spread on social media warned that they would be attacked, but also in Muzaffarnagar, where the riots last year were reportedly fanned by a video on social media that purportedly showed a Muslim mob lynching a Hindu boy which went viral. It was later found out that the video in question was not even filmed in India, but by then the damage had already been done.

However, the solution to combat this situation cannot simply be to 'crush' social media. While it certainly presents new challenges to the government, especially in terms of law and order and propaganda, the fact remains that the government cannot simply make social media go away. And technologically it's almost impossible. Where there is a block, there is always a proxy. And let's face it. The government has not proved itself tech savvy enough to be able to block entire social media sites.

What the government needs is a social media strategy and more effective ways of combatting rumours that go viral online. A Congress Khidkee is not the way to go about it. And neither is the draconian section 66A that is framed in vague and sweeping language, which allows law enforcement authorities to interpret it in a subjective manner.

Shinde's statements are no less absurd and problematic than that of his peer Kapil Sibal, who wanted a 'pre-screening' of content by social media before they allowed users to post content on their sites. And it shows a woefully laughable lack of understanding on as to how modern day technology and networking works. 

Perhaps, it is time for Shinde to 'pre-screen' his ideas before airing them in public.

Meant social media, not journalism, says Shinde

Sholapur: After stoking a controversy by threatening to "crush" the electronic media, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said he was speaking about social media and not about journalism.

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde. Reuters

"I was referring to social media and the violence incited against students from the Northeast in Hyderabad and Karnataka. My comments were not about journalism," he said on Monday night.

Shinde had on Sunday evening threatened to "crush" the electronic media, alleging a section of it was unnecessarily provoking the Congress by indulging in "false propaganda" against it.

The outburst by Shinde, a Congress leader who hails from Maharashtra's Sholapur district, came at a Youth Congress event.

Shinde, who is a Lok Sabha MP from Sholapur, alleged that since the last four months a section of the electronic media is "manipulating" news about him and his party and warned it would be "crushed" if this kind of reportage is not stopped immediately.

"What is happening in the electronic media largely I am aware of it. In the last four months there have been efforts by the media to provoke us (Congress). We will crush such elements in the electronic media, which are indulging in false propaganda, if it did not stop" he said.

"I have the intelligence department under me. I know who is doing such things. I know what is happening. Some forces are behind this," he added.

Shinde's remarks came against the backdrop of a series of opinion polls in the national and regional media which predicted a poor showing for the Congress in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Urging the media to focus on positive stories, which will be welcomed by the people, Shinde said the people of the country will not accept those dividing the country by disturbing society.

PTI

Dear Mr Shinde, it’s not okay to ‘crush’ social media either

Sushilkumar Shinde has sought to stem the rising tide of wrath at his remark -  that he would 'crush' electronic media that were running an anti-Congress campaign - by saying that he meant social media instead.

"My comments were on Social Media....it was with regards to the issue related to the NE students who were being targeted in Hyderabad and Karnataka," he said on Tuesday. "It's totally wrong, they are maligning me. I have never said such things in my forty years as an MP. Why will I say it now? The media is my friend."

The remark in question, made at a rally in Solapur, was:

PTI

"Youngsters should be aware of this propaganda of electronic media. Since I have the intelligence department with me, now I know the source of this propaganda. We have covertly put a stop to it. In the last four months there have been efforts by the media to provoke us (Congress). We will crush such elements in the electronic media, which are indulging in false propaganda, if it does not stop"

And while Shinde's hasty backtracking may smooth over a few very ruffled feathers within the media, who have been lately been coming under attack by a number of prominent personalities, the fact that he said he 'meant' social media is no less problematic. Here's why:

Firstly, his allusion to how the government is using 'intelligence' to 'covertly' put a stop to 'propaganda' is alarming in itself, pointing to an almost NSA like attitude towards social media. Does this mean that in addition to what is already public on Twitter, the government is also using intelligence to get information on what we post on more private forums like Facebook as well? And do these 'covert' operations violate privacy laws?

The fact that it is the Home Minister of the country who is saying this makes these questions all the more valid, and he should be asked to clarify.

Secondly, his comment that social media (we're taking it as a given that he meant social media and not electronic media here) should be crushed, further exemplifies the deeply problematic understanding and relationship that the present government has with social media.

Shinde is not wrong to point out that social media can be problematic and used to spread propaganda and rumours. This was seen to be the case in not just Karnataka, which saw an exodus of Northeast citizens after rumours spread on social media warned that they would be attacked, but also in Muzaffarnagar, where the riots last year were reportedly fanned by a video on social media that purportedly showed a Muslim mob lynching a Hindu boy which went viral. It was later found out that the video in question was not even filmed in India, but by then the damage had already been done.

However, the solution to combat this situation cannot simply be to 'crush' social media. While it certainly presents new challenges to the government, especially in terms of law and order and propaganda, the fact remains that the government cannot simply make social media go away. And technologically it's almost impossible. Where there is a block, there is always a proxy. And let's face it. The government has not proved itself tech savvy enough to be able to block entire social media sites.

What the government needs is a social media strategy and more effective ways of combatting rumours that go viral online. A Congress Khidkee is not the way to go about it. And neither is the draconian section 66A that is framed in vague and sweeping language, which allows law enforcement authorities to interpret it in a subjective manner.

Shinde's statements are no less absurd and problematic than that of his peer Kapil Sibal, who wanted a 'pre-screening' of content by social media before they allowed users to post content on their sites. And it shows a woefully laughable lack of understanding on as to how modern day technology and networking works. 

Perhaps, it is time for Shinde to 'pre-screen' his ideas before airing them in public.