India warns social media after airline bomb threats

“ECONOMIC SECURITY”

Civil aviation authorities had to check every flight that was threatened, many through messages posted on X, formerly Twitter.

The government’s warning did not mention any social media companies by name, but cited an advisory from the information technology ministry.

“It has been observed that the scale (spread) of such fake bomb threats is dangerously limitless due to the availability of ‘redirect/reshare/repost/re-tweet’ option on social media platforms.” said the ministry of information.

It said companies must report any crimes “that could threaten the unity, integrity, sovereignty, security or economic security” of the country and quickly cooperate with government agencies to aid investigations.

The government said on Monday it was discussing “legislative action” to overhaul aviation and aircraft security laws and make those who make such threats guilty of a serious or “cognizable” offence, with potentially longer sentences.

India, the world’s largest democracy, regularly ranks among the top five countries globally for the number of requests made by a government to remove content from social media.

Last year, an Indian court slapped X with a $61,000 fine after the platform unsuccessfully challenged orders to remove tweets and accounts critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.