Over 5,000 social media accounts promoting fundamentalist content flagged: CM Sarma

These accounts emerged in the past month and is likely to continue to increase in the run-up to 2026 elections, the Chief Minister added.;

Update: 2025-06-20 10:03 GMT
Over 5,000 social media accounts promoting fundamentalist content flagged: CM Sarma
The government has flagged over 5,000 social media accounts with fundamentalist content in the past one month (Representational Image)
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Guwahati, June 20: Over 5,000 social media accounts based out of Assam have been actively engaging with fundamentalist content in the past month, raising serious national security concerns  ahead of the State Assembly elections, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday.

Addressing the media at the Lok Sewa Bhawan, Sarma said that these accounts are promoting narratives that are anti-India and anti-Assam in nature.

“These accounts propagate fundamentalist views such as a pro-Palestine stance, annihilation of Israel, sympathises with Muhammad Yunus, or have an anti-India stance. The other thing they do is ‘like’ posts related to Assam,” the Chief Minister said on Friday.

Following digital and forensic audits, the government found that more than 700 social media accounts are operating from Bangladesh.

“Apart from this, 350 accounts are operating from Pakistan and more than 500 from the Middle East,” Sarma said.

The Chief Minister flagged this development as the first time such a large-scale foreign digital interference has observed before state elections. He highlighted it as a national security concern.

“As elections approach, we're seeing an increase in these accounts propagating fundamentalist views and we believe it will increase in the days to come. This will have serious bearing on national security,” Sarma told the press on Friday.

He also pointed out a political pattern among these accounts where these accounts exclusively follow the Assam Congress and its leaders, which raises further questions about their intent.

The Chief Minister questioned what interest would anyone from a foreign country have in Assam and highlighted that a more strategic agenda with Assam and the Northeast is at play.

“What interest should foreign entities have in Assam? Historically, Assam and the Northeast were targeted to be included in Pakistan, but thanks to Gopinath Bordoloi, we are in India. This looks like a part of unfinished agenda. It is internationally claimed that countries can take over Assam and Northeast if it disconnected from the chicken neck,” Sarma told the press.

Sarma added that many of the accounts are designed to appear credible, using names of reputed institutions. 

“They have affiliations of institutions like IIT Guwahati on their account. In the future, they may even use Hindu names or locations in Assam to appear more credible,” the Chief Minister said.

Sarma highlighted that the government has information on some of the people renting spaces in Guwahati.

“We are investigating individuals who are living in GS Road or Kharghuli in Guwahati. If they are politically active, that's acceptable. But posing a threat to national security is not, and now they are on our radar,” the Chief Minister said.

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