Bomb threats to airlines: Why IT ministry is upset with Elon Musk’s Twitter – Times of India

The Indian Ministry of Information Technology sharply criticized Elon Musk‘s social media platform, X, formerly Twitter, following a surge in bomb threats received by domestic airlines. In little over a week, more than 170 flights operated by the Indian carriers have received bomb threats. Many of these were circulated through social media platforms, have led to widespread panic and disruptions to flight operations.
In a virtual meeting with representatives from airlines and social media companies like X and Meta, IT Ministry officials accused Twitter of “abetting crime” and questioned its representatives about the measures taken to prevent the spread of these alarming rumors.The meeting was chaired by Joint Secretary, IT, Sanket S Bhondve.
The online threats have created significant disruptions, forcing several flights, including international ones, to be diverted. More than 120 flights operated by Indian carriers have been affected, with Tuesday alone seeing 30 threats targeting IndiGo, Vistara, and Air India.

Twitter accounts that sent threat messages

Delhi Police has registered eight separate FIRs in connection with bomb threats to more than 90 domestic and international flights over the past one week. The affected flights are said to include Akasa, Air India, IndiGo and Vistara, operating from Delhi to various domestic and international destinations. According to a senior police officer, the threats messages were received through anonymous posts on X which were later suspended by the authorities. The officer said three accounts on social media platform ‘X’ – @adamlanza111, @psychotichuman and @schizobomer777 have been found involved in posting threat messages to airlines.
“It was suspected that the handler used VPN (Virtual private network) or dark web browser to set up the accounts on X and then posted the messages from more than one account,” the officer said.

Government plans strict action against those spreading hoax messages

In response to the crisis, Union Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu announced earlier this week that those responsible for spreading hoax threats would face severe consequences, including being placed on a no-fly list. The government is also working to amend the ‘Suppression of Unlawful Acts’ against the ‘Safety of Civil Aviation Act’ to enable action against offenders even when aircraft are on the ground. Currently, aviation security regulations primarily address in-flight offenses.
Following the hoax calls, airlines have implemented standard operating procedures to ensure passenger safety. Last week, an Air India flight from Mumbai to New York was diverted to Delhi due to a bomb threat.