Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Oct 23: As the bomb threats to flights operated by the Indian carriers continued unabated disrupting the aviation industry in the country and causing huge harassment to passengers, the Centre on Wednesday blasted the social media platforms, particularly ‘X’ through which most of the hoax threats were circulated.
The joint secretary in the union ministry of Electronics and Information Technology Sanket S Bhondve told the X that it was virtually abetting crime and questioned its representatives on the steps taken to stop such alarming rumours from spreading.
Mr Bhondve chaired a virtual meeting with representatives of airlines and social media platforms such as X and Meta on Tuesday evening amidst the barrage of hoax threats pouring in through various social media causing havoc to the aviation industry. In little over a week, more than 170 flights operated by the Indian carriers have received bomb threats forcing the operators to often divert flights or make unscheduled landings for security checks in keeping with the aviation protocols.
Hours later, on Wednesday, the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology blasted social media platform X and suggested them at least to use Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based mechanism to block any accounts that send out bulk messages/posts about bombs. Top officials of social media platforms were also told to get cracking unilaterally rather than wait for the security grid to flag off an account.
During a briefing on the situation on Monday, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said the government was trying to tackle it without compromising passengers’ safety. He added that those circulating such hoax threats would face tough action, including being put on a no-fly list.
The government plans to amend the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Civil Aviation Act so that action could be initiated for offences when an aircraft is on the ground. Currently, the aviation security norms largely cover in-flight offences.
“We are trying to make amendments and the legal team has worked on it… We need consultations with other ministries also… we are definitively pushing forward to have changes in the Act also so that it addresses offences that happen when the flight is on the ground and also make it cognizable offence,” he said.
The threats have created panic among the passengers and set off alarm bells for security agencies. Several flights, including international ones, have been diverted after the threats. “We are keeping ourselves dynamic and not rigid… assessing and learning from what is happening. Everything is taken on a case-by-case basis. Based on our learning, we are trying to assess the situation,” the minister had said.
Mr Naidu had underlined that even though these were hoax threats, they have to be taken seriously. Security has been enhanced at airports and there was more checking at checkpoints. “We have increased (the number of) CCTV cameras so that airports get monitored more thoroughly.”
The Delhi Police have registered eight separate First Information Reports (FIR)s in connection with bomb threats to more than 90 domestic and international flights over the past eight days.
The affected flights include services from Akasa, Air India, IndiGo and Vistara, operating from Delhi to various domestic and international destinations, officials said adding that the investigation was underway. According to a senior police officer, the threats messages were received through anonymous posts on X which were later suspended by the authorities.
The officer said three accounts on social media platform X have been found involved in posting threat messages to fights. The first case was registered on October 16 following a bomb threat received via X, targeting a Bengaluru-bound Akasa Air flight. The aircraft, carrying over 180 passengers, was forced to return to the national capital.
The police wrote to social media platform X the next day seeking details of the accounts that posted threatening messages but the force was not able to get the details of the user’s ID or domain. “It was suspected that the handler used VPN (Virtual private network) or dark web browser to set up the accounts on X and then posted the messages from more than one account,” the officer said. Various teams of the Delhi Police’s cyber cell are keeping an eye on the activities on X and other social media platforms regarding the ongoing threats to flights.