The Railways ministry has reportedly asked the microblgging platform X (previously known as Twitter) to take down 285 social media links that contained videos of casualties from the tragic stampede at New Delhi Railway Station stampede on February 15.
The ministry reportedly gave a 36 hours deadline to do the task.
This comes days after the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting reminded OTT platforms of abiding by IT Rules and avoiding obscene content after a controversy took place over a joke cracked by social media influencer Ranveer Allahbadia during a comedy show on YouTube.
What Did Railway Ministry Tell X?
According to Hindustan Times report, the ministry sent a notice to X on February 17 citing 'ethical norms' and highlighted their own content policy warning them to take action within 36 hours.
The Ministry notice reportedly read, "This is not only against the ethical norms but also against the content policy of x.com itself as sharing of such video may create unwarranted law and order situation."
They also stated that the content "may affect the operations of Indian Railways" in the near future as the Maha Kumbh 2025 has led to a "huge rush of trains" over the last few weeks.
The notice according to reports asked the platform to take down multiple tweets which belong to prominent news networks as well and the ministry has cited then as "sensitive or disturbing media depicting deceased individuals".
The ministry inits notice has reportedly mentioned that they have the authority to issue takedown notices "to remove/disable access to URLs, accounts, etc. where unlawful advertisements, endorsements, promotional content, etc. are published."
What Did Delhi HC Ask Railway Ministry?
The Delhi High Court on February 19 asked the Railways to examine the issues including fixing of maximum passengers and sale of platform tickets as raised in a PIL over the recent stampede at the New Delhi Railway Station.
A bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela asked the authorities concerned to state in its affidavit, the details of the decision taken by it on these issues.
The court said the legal provisions on the issue of crowd and passenger management appeared to have been "neglected all along".
"Not fixing the strength to be accommodated in a particular coach, this provision appears to have been neglected all along.. If you fix the number of passengers in each coach then why do the number of tickets sold exceed that number? That's the problem," said chief justice Upadhyaya.
The bench therefore ordered, "Let the issues raised in the petition be examined, as suggested by the solicitor general, at the highest level in the Railway Board and thereafter a short affidavit be filed by the respondent giving details of the decisions which might be taken by the Railway Board."
