The Income Tax Department on Thursday conducted raids at the premises of several prominent vloggers in Kerala in the wake of complaints alleging tax evasion.
Sources said, apart from the revenue they got from social media platforms, vloggers were receiving money and other costly items as gifts from their fans and organisers of many events. But, there was no proper accounting for all that and therefore the searches were conducted.
On Thursday, the Valanchery Police in Malappuram district also registered a case against vlogger Nihal, who is known by the name ‘Thoppi’ on social media, for making obscene and abusive remarks during a shop inauguration the other day and for causing a traffic block on the highway.
The case was registered on the basis of a petition filed by a social activist and Valanchery resident Saifuddin. “The NH road was blocked for several hours as the vloggers’ fans had crowded at the function venue to see him. There was also loud singing,” he said. The police registered an FIR on Thursday on the basis of his complaint.
CPM’s youth wing DYFI on Wednesday called for stricter regulations on social media content creation and stringent legal action against those coming up with anti-social and obscene content.