Kerala Assembly: Ruling, Opposition fronts spar over ‘cyber armies’ and fake social media handles for propaganda

Heated debate in Kerala Assembly over party cyber armies and fake social media accounts for propaganda and disinformation.

The Opposition and Treasury benches in the Kerala Assembly engaged in heated debate on June 28 regarding party “cyber armies” and fake social media accounts used for spreading propaganda and disinformation.

During the Question Hour, United Democratic Front (UDF) MLAs raised questions about a contentious WhatsApp screenshot with communal undertones that circulated on social media before the Lok Sabha elections. This issue dominated discussions, putting the Kerala government on the defensive.

The message in question promoted UDF candidate and eventual victor Shafi Parambil for the Vadakara Lok Sabha seat as a devout Muslim, contrasting him with his opponent, K.K. Shailaja of the Left Democratic Front (LDF), whom it labelled as a ‘kafir’ (infidel). Initially, the LDF accused a leader from the Muslim Students’ Federation of creating the post, but later, the police dismissed these claims in a submission to the Kerala High Court.

The controversy had persisted after the UDF accused former MLA K.K. Lathika of circulating the screenshot. The police have also launched investigations into pro-CPI(M) Facebook pages – Ambadimukku Sakhakkal, Kannur, and Porali Shaji – for sharing the incendiary content.

Replying to the queries on behalf of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M.B. Rajesh informed the House that investigations are ongoing into two cases related to this issue. The Kerala Police have instructed Facebook to remove the content and provide details of the profiles involved.

While the Opposition legislators accused Ms. Lathika of sharing the particular screenshot as her Facebook profile picture for over 40 days, Mr. Rajesh appeared to defend the CPI(M) leader. “She had commented against attempts to propagate communal hatred, and not fester such divisions in the society,” he said.

Tensions escalated further when CPI(M) legislator V. Joy broached the issue of alleged forgery of elector’s photo identity cards by Youth Congress workers for the organisational polls. As if on cue, U. Prathibha of the CPI(M) highlighted a case involving a Congress leader who allegedly created a fake Facebook profile, Kottayam Kunjachan, which targeted women, particularly the spouses of Left leaders.