Twitter users, for the third day in a row, tweeted with the hashtag #IStandWithZubair after a bogus case was registered against Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of the fact-checking website AltNews, on the basis of a complaint for the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).
The case was registered reportedly on the basis of a complaint from a Twitter user @JSINGH2252 (Jagdish Singh).
Two FIRs were filed against Mohammed Zubair in Delhi and Raipur under sections of the IT Act and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The NCPCR complaint accused Zubair of “threatening and torturing a girl child through Twitter”.
NCPCR chairperson Priyank Kanoongo told The Indian Express, “NCPCR took cognizance of the post on August 8 and initiated an inquiry, in which we asked Twitter to provide relevant information. Dissatisfied with their response, we summoned Twitter and their representatives appeared before the Commission on Friday. We also wrote to police authorities, and according to the action taken report, FIR has been lodged against alleged persons for threatening and torturing a girl child on Twitter.”
What had Zubair actually done?
A report in Scroll.in says that Zubair had responded to an abusive message from Singh by posting a message with Singh’s display photo on Twitter, which was that of a little girl.
Zubair had said in his tweet, “Hello Jagdish Singh. Does your cute grand daughter know about your part time job of abusing people on social media? I suggest you to change your profile pic.”
He had also blurred out the face of the child.
The action against Zubair triggered a huge controversy online, with people calling out the NCPCR, and showing support for Zubair.
AltNews is a website that has often taken on the false narratives being spread about several different issues, and calling out fake videos and tweets used by political leaders to spread hatred.
Twitter users pointed out how this was what happened when people stood up to the system.
While many just tweeted with the hashtag, others shared photos of donating money to AltNews to show their support. $