‘Abetting crime’: Centre pulls up Meta, X over bomb threats; 120 flights hit

With more than 120 flights receiving hoax bomb threats since October 14, the Centre reprimanded social media giants X and Meta for their role in allowing such alarming rumours to spread, accusing them of “abetting crime.” This was conveyed during a virtual meeting held by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology with officials from airlines and the social media platforms.

Ministry officials questioned X and Meta on the steps taken to curb the spread of hoax messages, while airlines confirmed they followed security protocols after receiving the threats. X faced criticism after the Delhi Police were unable to obtain the details of user IDs linked to threat messages.

Civil Aviation Minister K Ram Mohan Naidu recently announced that hoax calls would soon be made a cognisable offence under the laws. The Delhi Police have filed eight cases related to bomb threats in the past 10 days.