NO NEWS All you FBians and Tweeple out there, here is a shocking news for you. In view of the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls, the central government has decided to put a ban on your favourite social networking sites, which pose a "threat to democracy."
The Information and Broadcasting ministry has taken the decision to ban the social networking sites after the Election Commission had filed a PIL in the Supreme Court, appealing a ban till May 16, which is the poll results day.
"These websites pose a huge threat to our democracy. Facebook has become 'Fakebook' while Twitter has misled people in the most serious ways. This propaganda should be banned with an immediate effect,” the ministry said in a statement.
The Election Commission observed that various political parties had carried out their fake propaganda ahead of parliamentary polls.
“We have monitored the websites and finally filed a petition. We appreciate the apex court’s decision,” said an EC official.
While, the Home ministry justified the extreme step stating, “It’s a historic verdict given by the top court. We believe these sites pose a threat to the national security.”
However, Facebook in a statement has strongly condemned the verdict saying, "It's unfortunate. We condemn it. We believed that India is a freer place, with democratic ideals firmly rooted in the society. We need to think again. "
Ironically, the democratic government spare no opportunity to curb freedom of expression and banning various communication channels that challenge the status quo.
Notably, in recent times, social media has emerged as a powerful player in shaping the opinion of society. It should come as no surprise then that this medium is often blocked by governments to stop dissemination of misinformation.
(We hope we have managed to bring a smile on your face with this article, which is a part of our April fool day series. We hope even the people mentioned in the article understand our intentions and are not offended.)
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