Kerala police file FIR against Facebook, YouTube, others over negative film reviews

Kochi: Kerala police have lodged an FIR against YouTube, Facebook and some others in connection with a filmmaker’s complaint of negative reviews being uploaded on the two social media platforms regarding his movie.

Besides the two platforms, the list of accused includes the owner of a cinema promotion company and several Facebook and YouTube account holders who allegedly posted the negative reviews.

The police lodged an FIR on October 24 under Sections 385 (putting a person in fear of injury in order to commit extor­tion) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC and section 120(o) of the Kerala Police Act on the complaint by filmmaker Ubaidi E.

Section 120(o) of the KP Act lays down the penalty for causing nuisance and violation of public order through any means of communication or causing a nuisance of himself to any person by repeated or undesirable or anonymous call, letter, writing, message, e-mail or through a messenger.

It provides a maximum punishment of one year imprisonment or a fine of upto Rs 5,000 or both.

Ubaidi, in his complaint to the police, has claimed that since the release of his film — Rahel Makan Kora — on October 13, some Facebook and YouTube account holders were posting bad comments about his movie along with ”negative review bomb videos”.

He also claimed that the owner of the cinema promotion company, the first accused in the FIR, threatened him by saying that if he opted for legal recourse, it would do him more harm than good.

Ubaidi has alleged that the accused were intimidating him and threatening him with harm for the purpose of extortion.

He also alleged that Facebook and YouTube were allowing the accused to post and spread false and negative reviews about his film.