Alternative news on Sunday he issued a statement in support of the organization’s co-founder, Mohammed Zubair, who has been accused of “stalking a minor” on Twitter, and said the first information report against him was an attempt to harass him by using “misuse of apparatus law”.
Two first information reports have been filed against Zubair, one in Delhi and one in Raipur, under the Law on Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses for the alleged online harassment and torture of a minor. The police action occurred after receiving a complaint from the National Commission for the Protection of Children’s Rights.
In its police complaint, the children’s rights panel alleged that the incident took place on August 6, when Zubair responded to an abusive message from Twitter user Jagdish Singh, who uses the identifier @ JSINGH2252. He posted Singh’s display image, which shows a girl who may be his granddaughter. Zubair blurred his face in the posted image.
“Hello Jagdish Singh,” he said. “Does your cute granddaughter know about your part-time job of abusing people on social media? I suggest you change your profile picture. ”
The rights panel learned of the doxing, which involves posting private or identifying information about a particular individual on the internet, after it reportedly received several complaints regarding Zubair’s tweet. Two other Twitter users, under the names de_real_mask and syedsarwar20, have also been named in the FIRs.
In a statement on Sunday, Alternative news co-founder Pratik Sinha dismissed the allegations. “Attempts are being made to harass Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair through the misuse of the legal apparatus,” Sinha said. “Alt News supports Mohammed Zubair. Zubair has been at the forefront of the fight against false narratives and his work hurts those who have armed disinformation to subvert Indian democracy. “
Zubair had called the complaint “absolutely frivolous” early Saturday. “I will respond legally,” he had said.
Alt News Kiosks by Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear). pic.twitter.com/08ezUdBqII
– Pratik Sinha (@free_thinker) September 6, 2020
The National Commission for the Protection of the Rights of the Child had acted on a complaint made by the Indigenous Rights Forum of Northeast India. The commission then wrote to the Delhi Deputy Police Commissioner and the Nodal Cyber Cell officer, requesting action against Zubair for “stalking a minor on Twitter.”
Raipur Police Superintendent Ajay Yadav said prima facie that there were some comments that could be classified as harassment. “We have registered the FIR against all three Twitter identifiers, but the investigative work is still continuing,” he added.
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