Kerala Police files first-ever FIR against FB, YouTube over negative film reviews
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Kochi: Two weeks after the Kerala High Court directed the state police chief to have a closer look into vested interests playing mischief, especially on social media, when new films are released, the Ernakulam Central police on Wednesday registered the first case on this count lodging an FIR against YouTube, Facebook and nine others.
The case registered is in connection with a filmmaker's complaint of negative reviews being uploaded on the two social media platforms regarding his movie.
Besides the two platforms, the list of accused includes the owner of a cinema promotion company and several Facebook and YouTube account holders who allegedly posted negative reviews.
The Ernakulam Central police registered the FIR based on a complaint by film director Ubaini Ebrahim after he found that social media was flooded with negative reviews of his recently released Malayalam film "Rahel Makan Kora".
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The FIR was lodged on October 24 under Sections 385 (putting a person in fear of injury in order to commit extor¬tion) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC and section 120(o) of the Kerala Police Act.
The High Court, early this month, acted on a petition filed by Mubeen Rauf, the director of "Aromalinte Adyathe Pranayam" that he believed his film got a negative impact due to the alleged foul play by vloggers and sought action.
At this, the court made it clear that checks and balances have to be there and ruled that "the state police chief, through the learned government pleader, will also inform this court as to if an individual or an entity can file a complaint against such activities, including unlawful and motivated ‘Review Bombing’; and the modus for such, leading to the manner of investigation and its conclusion, apart from other suggestions".
"It must, however, be specifically kept in mind by the state police chief that, what he is now being called to respond to, is regarding action only in the cases of motivated and calculated reviews made solely to extort and blackmail; and not those which are made bona fide," the court clarified.
With inputs from agencies
