New Delhi: The Delhi police have said that a person has to take responsibility for their retweets also, adding that action can be taken against posts on social media whenever they come to the police’s cognisance.
These comments by Delhi deputy commission of police (DCP) K.P.S. Malhotra assume significance due to the arrest of Alt News co-founder, journalist Mohammed Zubair for a tweet made in 2018. Malhotra was speaking to the news agency ANI about Zubair’s arrest.
“If you endorse a view on social media, it becomes your view. Retweeting and saying I don’t know, doesn’t stand here. Responsibility is yours. Time does not matter, you only have to retweet and it becomes new. Police action was on the basis of when matter came to our cognisance,” Malhotra told ANI.
If you endorse a view on social media, it becomes your view. Retweeting & saying I don’t know, doesn’t stand here. Responsibility is yours. Time does not matter, you only have to re-tweet & it becomes new. Police action was on basis of when matter came to our cognizance: DCP IFSO pic.twitter.com/1zQcRPKR80
— ANI (@ANI) June 28, 2022
Many Twitter users have the qualifier “retweets not endorsement” in their bio. This will not be a shield, Malhotra’s comments suggest.