Why Govt asked X to withhold Cockroach Janta Party's account — inflammatory content, national security concerns: Report
The X handle of the satirical page Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) was withheld following a directive from the Modi-led Union government after the Intelligence Bureau
The X handle of the satirical page Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) was withheld following a directive from the Modi-led Union government after the Intelligence Bureau (IB) raised “national security concerns”, The Indian Express reported today, citing a senior government official. According to the report, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) asked X to withhold the satirical account under Section 69 (A) of the Information Technology Act, 2000. The official added that the input to do so came from IB, as the central agency cited a threat to the sovereignty of India. What Govt said: "The IB believed that the account was posting inflammatory content through its account, which could have jeopardised the country’s national security,” the official told the newspaper on condition of anonymity since the government issues such blocking orders under a confidential framework.
The concern, in particular, stemmed from the fact that the account's content was gaining traction among young people, the official said. A second government official told the newspaper that the order to withhold the account was sent to the social media platform X when it had gained roughly 90,000 followers. It had more than 200,000 followers on X as of Thursday evening. Section 69 (A) of the Information Technology Act empowers the Central government to direct intermediaries (such as internet service providers, social media platforms, and web hosts) to block public access to online information or websites. Although X withheld the CJP account in India, it is accessible from other locations.
What is Cockroach Janta Party The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a viral political satire movement, began on 16 May. It was in response to controversial remarks made by Chief Justice of India () Surya Kant during a court hearing that allegedly compared young unemployed Indians to ‘cockroaches'. CJP was started by 30-year-old Abhishek Dipke, who recently completed his Master’s in Public Relations from Boston University in Massachusetts, USA. Dipke, who moved to the United States for higher studies in 2023, launched a new platform for all the ‘cockroaches’ out there. He invited people to sign up through a Google Form shared on X. Within hours, Dipke says he got 15,000 registrations in the Google Form.
Soon, the name campaign became known as the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). It had a Twitter handle, an Instagram page and a website. Days after the CJP launched on social media, the party gained 6 lakh registrations. It crossed 13 million followers on Instagram, many lakhs more than Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the world's biggest political party by physical membership. The BJP has 8.7 million followers on Instagram. Also Read | After beating BJP, Cockroach Janta Party surpasses Congress on Instagram
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