İstanbul, Turkey – November 8, 2023: X social media apps, instagram, LinkedIn, discord, reddit, threads, Facebook on smartphone screen. | Photo credit: Getty Images
The Tamil Nadu Police has written to X Corp. (formerly Twitter Inc.) request to block 22 Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) containing footage of the brutal assault of a migrant worker by four juveniles in Tiruttani on December 26, 2025.
In a communication to the social media platform, the Cyber Crime Wing (CCW) of the state police said that the circulation of such videos could adversely affect the young generation, encourage violent behavior and potentially disrupt public harmony, police sources said on Friday.
The incident took place near the railway quarters near Tiruttani railway station, where the youths attacked the victim with a sharp-edged weapon, causing severe cut injuries. The victim was later identified as Suraj, 34, a native of Odisha.
The accused, all hailing from Nemelli in Tiruvallur district, allegedly recorded the attack on their mobile phones and uploaded the video on social media. The footage soon went viral and drew sharp condemnation from civil society, including politicians, journalists and social media influencers. The youths were arrested by the local police.
Suraj was taken to a government hospital where he was treated and later discharged, sources said. It remains unclear whether he was transferred to another hospital or if doctors found his condition stable enough to be released.
“It can mislead the youth”
According to police sources, the CCW acted on the request of an investigating officer who pointed out that videos posted on 22 social media sites contained explicit violent content. The officer noted that such material not only glorifies rioting and promotes a culture of violence, but also risks misleading young people with harmful ideologies.
State police asked X Corp to block access to the URLs to prevent further crimes and further distribution of content.
“As the said handle violates the laws of the land, you are informed that failure to block the post will result in the initiation of legal action against X Corp as contemplated by Rule 7 of the Information Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Code of Ethics) Rules 2021,” the letter said.
A senior police officer confirmed the move and said sharing images that reveal the identity of minors against the law is an offense under the Juvenile Justice Act.
“We are acting strictly in accordance with the law, not in accordance with emotions. Actions have been taken to block the URLs as the content includes explicit violence and reveals the identity of minors,” the officer said. Verification of the URLs revealed that the videos were shared by X handles belonging to some of the top politicians in the state, a popular fact-checker and others.
Published – 03 Jan 2026 04:35 IST
