Two FIRs were registered against AltNews co-founder Mohammed Zubair in Delhi and Raipur under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for allegedly “threatening and torturing a girl child on Twitter”, officials said on Sunday. The move came after police received a complaint from the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).

On August 6, Zubair had used the display picture of a Twitter user while responding to an abusive message. “Does your cute granddaughter know about your part-time job of abusing people on social media? I suggest you change your profile pic,” he wrote sharing the photo in which the face of the girl was blurred. 

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The NCPCR complaint refers to the photo of a girl and her grandfather shared by Zubair on Twitter during an online spat with the minor’s grandfather. Though the girl’s face was blurred out in the photo, the complaint read that she could get identified as her grandfather’s face was recognisable.

Zubair, who called the complaint “absolutely frivolous”, said that he will respond to it legally. AltNews backed him, saying his work hurts those who have weaponised misinformation to subvert the Indian democracy.

“An attempt is being made to hound co-founder of Alt News, Mohammed Zubair, through misuse of legal apparatus. Alt News stands by Mohammed Zubair. Zubair has been at the forefront of fighting fake narratives, and his work hurts those who have weaponized misinformation to subvert Indian democracy,” read a statement issued by them.