Delhi Police has formed special teams of 20 to 25 personnel to monitor social media during protests and respond to posts that officials say contain misleading or fabricated claims about police and security-force action. The move follows demonstrations in New Delhi involving political parties and organisations, during which police said edited videos and photographs were circulated online.
According to Delhi Police officials cited by Jagran, the teams work around the clock to track posts and issue rebuttals on platforms including X and Instagram. The police said the issue has added a new layer to crowd-management duties, as officers must now respond not only to activity at protest sites but also to rapidly circulating digital content about those events.
Police officials said hundreds of people were seen at protest locations presenting themselves as professional YouTubers or journalists. The department is examining which states some of these individuals came from and whether they were connected to political parties or organisations. The police alleged that some creators filmed police personnel and paramilitary forces during action against protesters, edited the footage and uploaded it in a manner that distorted events.
The figures cited by the police relate to two sets of demonstrations. Officials said 56 allegedly misleading posts were published during a protest by the CJP in July. They also said 49 such posts were circulated between 2 and 11 October during another round of demonstrations. Delhi Police said it responded by issuing clarifications on social media, although the report does not identify the individual accounts or provide the posts for independent review.
Additional Police Commissioner Rajiv Ranjan said social media had become a powerful medium for raising public concerns but that its misuse through sensational or false reporting was creating a challenge for security arrangements and law and order. His comments, as reported by Jagran, framed the issue as an operational problem for police during large public gatherings rather than only a communications concern.
Delhi Police is now considering a broader strategy for future protests and events. One proposed measure is to analyse video captured at demonstrations and prepare a database of YouTubers and other content creators who attend them. The department is also considering a ground-level verification protocol to distinguish accredited or genuine media workers from what it described as fake content creators.
The proposed system would place more emphasis on identifying people recording at protest sites before their footage circulates widely online. The report does not specify what legal authority would govern such verification, how credentials would be assessed, or what safeguards would apply to independent journalists and citizens recording public events.
Police also acknowledged that not all online creators at demonstrations were spreading misleading information. Officials pointed to creators who questioned sensational claims and asked factual questions during a CJP press conference. Their presence, the police said, showed that digital reporting at protest sites can also help test claims and challenge inaccurate accounts.
The department’s next steps are expected to focus on finalising its proposed monitoring and verification arrangements for future demonstrations. The police have not announced a formal timeline for implementing the protocol or detailed the legal action that could be taken against accounts found to have deliberately circulated misleading content.
