New Delhi: Facebook has removed a caution of misinformation on a video posted by Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, in which he accused supporters of Lok Sabha MP Badruddin Ajmal of shouting “pro-Pakistan” slogans, even as Assam police has registered a case against the minister for promoting enmity between groups.
According to a report in the Indian Express, Facebook had previously flagged the video as “false information”, preventing users from sharing it.
A Facebook spokesperson said that politicians were exempt from its third-party fact-checking programme and that the “false information” tag had been wrongly attached to Sarma’s post.
A Facebook spokesperson said: “We rely on third-party fact-checkers to help reduce spread of false news and other viral misinformation like memes or manipulated photos and videos. Facebook exempts politicians from our third-party fact-checking. A fact-checking rating was applied in error on this post and has been removed.”
Sarma had, on November 6, posted the video along with the caption that read, “Look at the brazenness of these fundamentalists anti-national people who are shouting PAKISTAN ZINDABAD while they welcome MP Badruddin Ajmal. This thoroughly exposes Indian National Congress which is encouraging such forces by forging an alliance…”
Sarma claimed that the incident took place at the Silchar airport, according to Times of India.
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After fact-checking platforms like AltNews and BOOM Live reported the claim to be false, Facebook flagged the video and added a note that read, “False information. Checked by independent fact-checkers.”
On Monday, Sarma tweeted to say that the video was “genuine” and “not doctored”. “Good that the video is restored,” he tweeted.
The opposition Congress had filed an FIR in Guwahati against Sarma on Monday and claimed that the minister had posted the remarks on social media with the “intention to create religious tension between two communities through a misleading statement and false Facebook post”. On Tuesday, police clarified that a case has been registered against Sarma for allegedly promoting enmity between different groups by making “false statements” on the basis of the Congress’s complaint at Bhangagarh police station.
The case has been registered under sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups) and 511 (attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment) of the Indian Penal Code.
“These sections will be read with Section 67 (publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of the IT Act,” a police officer told PTI.
The All India United Democratic Front, whose member is MP Badruddin Ajmal, has said that the supporters said “Aziz Khan Zindabad” – for the party MLA from Karimganj South constituency who was also present there. Ajmal also told the media, “Aziz Khan’s supporters shouted slogans in his support. The BJP and Himanta Biswa Sarma manipulated it and said the slogans were ‘Pakistan Zindabad’.”
The AIUDF and the Congress have announced their intention to fight the state elections early next year as an alliance.