Censorship – News Media/ Documentaries

The Kerala Police on Tuesday ordered social media platforms to remove posts, including those by journalists and members of Opposition parties, about a letter the Election Commission had issued.

A row had erupted in the state on Monday when an Election Commission letter bearing the seal of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Kerala unit was widely shared online. The seal was on a letter dated March 19, 2019, sent to political parties across the country detailing norms about criminal antecedents of candidates.

The letter had been sent along with an email on March 21.

After the matter came to light on Monday, the poll panel said that the letter carried the BJP seal due to a “purely clerical error”. The panel added that it had withdrawn the erroneous document.​

On Tuesday, journalists Arvind Gunasekar, Piyush Rai and the Congress’ Aditya Goswami posted on social media that the Kerala police had in its order cited sections of the 2000 Information Technology Act and the 2021 IT rules that allow the authorities to order intermediaries such as social media platforms to take down content.