Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi has cancelled a government order stating that government officials should avoid using social media for official communication.

Earlier, Chief Minister Narayanasamy had noted that government officials were using Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter for official communication and cautioned them against doing so as these organisations have their servers installed abroad and officials documents can be downloaded or tampered with.

Calling this a violation of the Official Secrets Act, Narayansamy had asked government officials to desist from using social media for official communication.

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CM Narayanasamy instructed that officials should not be a part of any group such as WhatsApp or interact with seniors bypassing administrative hierarchy and the proper official channel to go about it, failing which disciplinary action would be taken against the officer.

GOVERNMENT ORDER ISSUED ON JAN 2

The order was issued on 2nd January after a high-ranking government officer was suspended for forwarding an obscene video on a WhatsApp group created by Kiran Bedi for official communication purposes.

Tech-savvy Bedi has been using WhatsApp and Twitter to a great extent and encouraging her staff to follow suit.

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Differences between CM Narayansamy and Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi surfaced after an IAS officer was suspended and arrested by the police and kept in a police station for a day without being charged.

Chief Minister Narayanasamy had issued the order cautioning government officials against use of social media. But for unexplained reasons, Lieutenant Governor declared the order null and void.

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