Why Govt Asked X To Withhold Cockroach Janta Party's Account - Inflammatory Content, National Security Concerns: Report

(MENAFN- Live Mint) The X handle of the satirical page Cockroach Janta Party was withheld following a directive from the PM Modi-led Union government after the Intelligence Bureau (IB) raised“national security concerns”, The Indian Express reported citing a senior government official.

According to the report, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) asked X to withhold the satirical account under Section 69 (A) of the Information Technology Act, 2000. The official added that the input to do so came from IB, as the central agency cited a threat to the sovereignty of India.

What Govt said:

"The IB believed that the account was posting inflammatory content through its account, which could have jeopardised the country's national security,” the official told the newspaper on condition of anonymity since such blocking orders are issued under a confidential framework.

The concern, in particular, stemmed from the fact that the account's content was gaining traction among young people, the official said.

A second government official told the newspaper that the order to withold the account was sent to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) when it had gained roughly 90,000 followers. It had more than 2,00,000 followers on X as of Thursday evening.

Also Read | Shashi Tharoor backs Cockroach Janta Party: 'Opposition must seize this'

Section 69 (A) of the Information Technology Act empowers the Central government to direct intermediaries (such as internet service providers, social media platforms, and web hosts) to block public access to online information or websites.

Although the account has been withheld in India, it is accessible from other locations.

What is CJP:

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a viral political satire movement, began on 16 May. It was in response to controversial remarks made by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant during a court hearing that allegedly compared young unemployed Indians to 'cockroaches'.

Also Read | CJI clarifies 'parasites' remark, blames media for misquoting

It was started by 30-year-old Abhishek Dipke who just completed his master's in public relations from Boston University in Massachusetts, USA.

Dipke, who moved to the United States for higher studies in 2023, launched a new platform for all the 'cockroaches' out there. He invited people to sign up through a Google Form shared on X.

Within hours, Dipke says he got 15,000 registrations in the Google Form. Soon the name campaign came to be known as Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). It had a twitter handle, an Instagram page and a website.

Days after it was launched on social media, The party gained 6 lakh registrations, and crossed 13 million followers on Instagram - many lakhs more than Bharatiya Janata Party, worlds biggest political party in physical membership. The BJP has 8.7 million followers on Instagram.

Also Read | After beating BJP, Cockroach Janta Party surpasses Congress on Instagram

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