Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police have registered cases against Meta India head Arun Srinivas and several Facebook and Instagram account operators for allegedly circulating morphed and AI-generated posts targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi during recent student protests. The FIRs were filed following complaints from individuals who reported encountering digitally manipulated images and videos of the Prime Minister on social media platforms during the Cockroach Janta Party-led protests against the alleged NEET paper leak.
According to The Hindu, the complaints were lodged by S. Aravind Reddy, a businessman, and T. Saikiran Goud, a Telangana BJP activist. They alleged that the posts included abusive and indecent language directed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others, and that the content appeared to be digitally altered or generated using artificial intelligence.
As reported by Scroll, the Hyderabad Police invoked provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act in the FIRs. The complaints stated that about 20 Facebook and Instagram accounts had posted morphed content about the Prime Minister, and that such material could potentially mislead the public and disturb public order.
As highlighted by The Observer Post, police are investigating both the creators and distributors of the alleged AI-generated content, as well as Meta’s role in moderating such material on its platforms. The investigation is at a preliminary stage, and further action will depend on the digital evidence collected.
According to Deccan Herald, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology summoned Meta executives to explain the company’s content moderation mechanisms. Meta attributed the brief removal of a video from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official Facebook account to an inadvertent error and assured the government of additional safeguards for prominent public accounts.
“We have issued a notice to Meta about the cases registered and the objectionable links reported by the complainants. We are also trying to collect details about the accused to identify and arrest them,” a cybercrime investigator was quoted as saying.
As noted in an article by The Indian Express, Hyderabad’s cybercrime police registered two cases against the operators of several Facebook and Instagram accounts over the morphed and objectionable content. The investigation is ongoing, and updates are expected as more details emerge.
Further developments indicate that Meta’s India head has been named as a co-accused under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act. Police are working to collect digital evidence and identify those responsible for creating and circulating the content.
Police action in Hyderabad follows similar scrutiny in Delhi, where notices were issued to multiple social media accounts for posts containing abusive remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi during protests at Jantar Mantar and the “Sansad Chalo” march as coverage revealed.
“Such content has the potential to mislead the public, spread misinformation, incite hatred or public unrest, outrage public decency, defame or insult the dignity of public figures, disturb public order, promote hostility among different sections of society, and otherwise violate the applicable provisions of law,” the complaints stated.
Police clarified that the investigation covers both the origin and spread of the disputed posts, as well as Meta’s compliance with content regulation requirements as analysis showed.
Note: This article is produced using AI-assisted tools and is based on publicly available information. It has been reviewed by The Quint's editorial team before publishing.