3 min readJammuApr 18, 2026 07:20 AM IST
Citing a threat to public order and communal harmony, the Jammu administration on Friday strictly prohibited the posting, sharing and forwarding of communally sensitive content — including doctored videos and hate speech — on social media across Jammu district for 60 days.
The order, issued by Jammu District Magistrate Rakesh Minhas under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS), prohibits posting, uploading, sharing or forwarding any content — text, image, video, audio, meme, graphic or reel — that promotes enmity, hatred or ill-will between communities on grounds of religion, race, caste, community, language or region within the territorial jurisdiction of Jammu district.
The order comes into force with immediate effect and extends across all major social media platforms, including WhatsApp, Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube and Telegram. It applies to all individuals within the territorial jurisdiction of Jammu district and covers inflammatory content posted from any place if it impacts public order in the district. Minhas said social media platforms had been “increasingly misused to spread communally provocative, false and inciting content, which has the potential to disturb public peace, cause communal tensions, and endanger lives and property”.
The order also prohibits organising or coordinating mobs, unlawful assemblies or processions through social media with the intent to target, intimidate or harm any particular community, as well as sharing speeches or material that hurt religious sentiments or deliberately provoke sectarian tensions. Warning of punishments ranging from fines to imprisonment — up to life term in serious cases involving threats to national unity and integrity — under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and the Information Technology Act, 2000, the order asked people to exercise caution, refrain from forwarding inflammatory content, and report such material to the nearest police station or cyber crime unit.
It also placed responsibility for preventing the circulation of prohibited content on administrators of social media groups and channels, warning they would face legal liability for failure to do so.
Social media intermediaries have been directed to promptly act on takedown requests through the government’s Sahyog platform, failing which they may lose safe-harbour protection under the IT Act.
The order further directed the Senior Superintendent of Police, Jammu, to ensure the immediate registration of FIRs against violators. The Cyber Crime Unit will maintain round-the-clock monitoring of social media, while special monitoring cells will be set up at the sub-divisional level under the supervision of respective SDMs.
