Complaints on “fake videos” circulating in social media referred to ECI, says Telangana CEO

File photo of Telangana Chief Electoral Officer Vikas Raj. | Photo Credit: NAGARA GOPAL

TelanganaChief Electoral Officer (CEO) Vikas Raj has said that the election officials have referred the complaints pertaining to “fake/doctored videos” circulating on social media to the Election Commission of India for further action.

The CEO’s assertion assumes significance in light of the war of words between the political parties over avideo of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s speech in Telangana on April 23. Mr. Shah appealed for information on the people who were disseminating the doctored video and the police have since arrested a few persons including Congress and Aam Admi Party functionaries.

A notice is said to have been served on Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy as the video was shared from the handle of Telangana Congress, for which he is the president, on April 27.

“We have received complaints about them (fake/doctored videos). They should be escalated in such a manner that the specific teams constituted by the ECI will go verify them,” the CEO told The Hindu. The IT teams constituted by the ECI will check the veracity of the complaints and this will be followed by identification of the source of these videos.

Mr. Vikas Raj said four to five complaints were received in this regard, but refused to elaborate further on the issue.