FSSAI files FIR against social media handles of influencers, claims bid to harm reputation with online posts

NEW DELHI: Delhi Police has filed an FIR following a complaint by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) alleging that certain social media handles of influencers, possibly in collusion with insiders, circulated content intended to “create distrust and harm the organisation’s reputation”. Police have written to X seeking details of some handles.

The information sought included the registration information of the X account, such as mobile number and email address, IP addresses and port information for all active sessions since the creation of the X account, the recovery mobile number and email ID. There was no response from FSSAI.

‘Documents may have been tampered with’

Many users on X expressed solidarity with the influencers and condemned the police action, calling it an overreach Police said they had received a complaint on March 12 from a FSSAI representative regarding the circulation of certain posts and purported official documents on social media.

The complainant alleged that influencers and unknown individuals shared content intended to damage the organisation’s credibility. “It was also claimed that some documents may have been accessed without authorisation and tampered with,” said an officer.

The complainant further claimed that certain posts were published on X by multiple handles with malicious intent to defame them and damage their reputation in society, thereby creating chaos before the public. “Some of the details were also stolen from certain places, which were supposed to be highly confidential,” the complainant said.

A case has been registered under Section 316 (criminal breach of trust) of the BNS and Section 72 of the IT Act at IP Estate police station. “Digital evidence is being preserved, and notices have been issued to social media platforms, including X, to obtain details of the accounts involved. The authenticity of the documents and the role of all parties are under examination,” the officer added.