Railways Ministry Directs X to Remove Videos of New Delhi Railway Station Stampede: Report

New Delhi: The Railway Ministry has directed X (formerly Twitter) to take down 285 social media links containing videos of casualties from the recent stampede at the New Delhi railway station.

The ministry’s order pertaining to the February 15 stampede mark its first major enforcement action since gaining direct takedown powers in December last year, reported Hindustan Times.

“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,” said the ministry’s notice sent to X on February 17.

The notice said that the content “may affect the operations of Indian Railways” given the “huge rush of trains” these days. The notice set a 36-hour deadline for X to remove posts from multiple accounts, including prominent news networks, citing concerns about “sensitive or disturbing media depicting deceased individuals”.

Earlier, in December last year, the Railways ministry had empowered its executive director of information and publicity (Railway Board) to issue takedown notices directly to social media platforms under Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act.

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