Priyanka Gandhi criticises UP's new social media policy

She questioned how the social media policy will be used to silence the critics of the state government so that various influencers cannot speak about certain issues online. "In which category will the voices of women seeking justice fall in the social media policy of the Uttar Pradesh government? In which category will the questions raised in the 69000 teacher recruitment reservation scam fall?" said Gandhi in the post on X.

Yesterday, the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet approved the state's Digital Media Policy, where the government is set to pay influencers upto Rs 8 through advertisements for promoting welfare schemes in the state.

The policy covers all social media platforms including X, Youtube, Facebook, and Instagram, and also includes different tiers of payments for each platform.

However, the Congress general secretary claimed that the policy would be used to silence the critics of the state government and anyone who criticises the BJP government. "In which category would exposing the BJP government by BJP leaders and MLAs fall?", added the post on X.

She further said that if influencers don't follow the state government's guidelines, they face the threat of jail, saying that this policy is just another way of suppressing the truth. "The policy of 'if you call day as night, then it is night or else jail' is another way of suppressing the truth. Can the BJP not think of anything more than crushing democracy and the Constitution?", she mentioned.

Uttar Pradesh Minister Sanjay Nishad said on Tuesday "Today, policy is being made for social media, Instagram... Now they will be regulated and they will also be given advertisements. A lot of policies have been made". The minister spoke after a state cabinet meeting which approved a total of 13 proposals, including scholarship hikes for students of Sanskrit. (ANI)