Videos, social media posts made during July 20 clash under police scanner

Delhi Police is examining thousands of videos, social media broadcasts and mobile phone records to identify those involved in the July 20 clashes and establish whether the July 20 violence was pre-planned or erupted spontaneously. Experts are analysing mobile phone recordings, CCTV footage, livestreams and social media content to identify individuals seen attacking police personnel and damaging public property, they said.

“Teams will investigate videos uploaded on various social media platforms, besides content circulated on messaging application groups,” a police source said.  The police are trying to match faces, clothing, movements and locations with surveillance footage and photographs captured during the violence.

“Every digital file is being authenticated to establish its originality and timeline before it can be used as evidence. Metadata, timestamps and geolocation details embedded in videos and photographs are also being examined wherever available,” the source said.

The member of the force said investigators are also identifying people who went live on social media during the protests, believing such broadcasts could provide an uninterrupted sequence of events and reveal the presence of individuals who later participated in violence.

The police are exploring whether data preservation requests need to be issued to major social media platforms to ensure that livestreams, deleted videos, and user account information relevant to the investigation are not lost before legal requests are processed.