India has warned social media platforms of “consequential action” after hundreds of hoax bomb threats to Indian airlines this month triggered travel chaos and terror it said threatened national security.
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Some threats led to planes being diverted to Canada and Germany, and fighter jets scrambled to escort aircraft in the skies above Britain and Singapore.
The government called the spread of the threats “dangerously unrestrained”.
It warned social media platforms of “consequential action as provided under any law” if they do not comply with the “prompt removal of misinformation”.
“The instances of malicious acts, in the form of hoax bomb threats to such airlines, lead to a potential threat to the public order and security of the state,” it said in a statement on Saturday.
“Such hoax bomb threats, while affecting a large number of citizens, also destabilises the economic security of the country.”
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