ISRO warns of action against its social media fakes

Even as Mangalyaan cruises its way through space towards Mars, back on terra firma the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has been hit online with a number of fake pages on the web.

The Indian space agency yesterday cautioned people of forged profiles about its Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

"It has come to our notice that a number of pages in the social media are floating in our name, department of space and Mangalyaan (Mars Orbiter), which have no authenticity," the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in a statement in Bangalore.

After the Facebook page for Mars Orbiter mission (facebook.com/isromom) emerged a roaring hit, several pages and accounts have popped up on FB and Twitter, claiming ownership of the mission. The Times of India quoted ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan as saying the organisation was considering initiating legal action against the impersonators.

The space agency has listed out five such accounts: Isro.org, Isro-Indian Space Research Organisation, Mangalyaan1, Isro India and Isro Bhuvan. While the FB page Isro.org received 3.7 lakh likes, almost 80,000 more than Isro's original Mars mission page, the two fake Isro accounts on Twitter also boast around 5,000 followers.

These pages and accounts have featured updates on the mission, media reports on Isro and discussions, in addition to photographs and satellite pictures. The FB pages have used the Isro logo without authorisation, and in order lend a touch of authenticity, some of the web sites have the air of US space agency Nasa.

ISRO chairman said he would not say they were giving false information, but ISRO wanted to put an end to these fakes.

"It has come to our notice that a number of pages in the social media are floating in our name, department of space and Mangalyaan (Mars Orbiter), which have no authenticity," the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in a statement in Bangalore.

A fortnight ahead of the maiden Mars mission, the space agency launched an official page on Facebook titled 'ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission' (facebook.com/isromom) to provide real time authentic information.

The agency has asserted that it was not responsible for any content hosted on the forged pages, adding that the impersonation was a serious offence. It warned of stern legal action if these were not immediately shut.