Goa govt lodges police complaint against X user for negative post on tourism: Report

The Goa government has reportedly lodged a police complaint against an entrepreneur for his X post about the apparently dwindling number of tourists in the state, which the state claims is false.

The post made on November 5 by Ramanuj Mukherjee, who has 22,800 followers on X, stoked a conversation on the microblogging site about the sorry state of affairs in Goa, with 10,000 users liking his post, 2,200 reposting it, and 1,300 commenting on it, mostly users who shared their own poor experience in the state famed for its beaches.

Public mischief?

However, according to a report by The Indian Express, the state’s tourism department took offence at the post. In the complaint filed with the Cyber Crime Police Station in Panaji, Rajesh Kale, Deputy Director of tourism, reportedly termed the post “an incident of public mischief”.

Kale has reportedly accused the entrepreneur of “[disseminating] false data” through his X handle, causing “significant annoyance to local businesses and inducing fear or alarm within the local community”.

Mukherjee, founder of an e-learning platform for legal courses, reportedly did not respond to The Indian Express’s message but he shared a screenshot of it and posted it with the caption: “Turns out Goa Tourism decided the best course of action when tens of thousands of people are complaining about how badly they were treated in the state is this [the complaint filed against him]”.

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Post that made Goa government see red

The post over which Kale reportedly seems to have lodged the complaint starts with “Tourism in Goa is down in dumps”.

Mukherjee’s post, which also provides a link of CEIC Data, reads, “Foreign tourists have abandoned the state (Goa) already. Look at 2019 v 2023 numbers. Russians and Brits who used to visit annually have opted for Sri Lanka instead. Indian tourists still visiting, but soon likely to ditch it as word spreads about exploitation of tourists while there are so many cheaper comparable locations abroad.”

Also posted with the comment was a chart giving figures for domestic and foreign tourists to Goa from 2014 to 2023. It was not clear, though, whether the source of the chart was CEIC Data.

“Intent to cause public unrest”

It seems the Goa tourism department had a particular problem with the source of the data. The complaint reportedly states that Mukherjee “referenced China Economic Information Centre (CEIC) data in his post” and its credibility was questionable. The complaint also reportedly mentions that Mukherjee did not consult the department or validate the data he collected.

The government has reportedly suggested in the complaint that Mukherjee’s post “appear(s) to have the intent to cause public unrest and may induce individuals to commit offences against the State or against public tranquillity”.

Since many X users commented in the thread, the complaint reportedly said that it “has incited considerable provocation on social media platforms and has attracted various unscrupulous elements that threaten the peace and safety of our local community. It is evident that these actions constitute a breach of public peace and could severely damage Goa’s image as a safe and welcoming destination for tourists”.

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“Hidden agenda”

In the complaint, Kale reportedly also wrote that “the propagation of such false statements not only jeopardises the reputation of [Goa] but also poses a serious threat to public tranquillity”. It reportedly also says that the Department of Tourism is concerned that it “may be part of a hidden agenda aimed at undermining Goa’s image”.

While the complaint has urged the SP to take “immediate and appropriate legal action”, the SP of the Cyber Crime Police Station in Goa, Rahul Gupta, told The Indian Express that they were yet to formally receive the complaint. He told the newspaper that they would look into the concerns and take action accordingly.

Real concerns

Replying to Mukherjee in the thread, many users shared their own negative experiences in Goa, with many pointing out that a similar destination like Phuket in Thailand offered a better experience at a lower price. Many complained about taxis and hotels in Goa overcharging tourists.

Mukherjee on Saturday (November 9) shared an Economic Times report, too, captioning it “Even the tourism minister seemed to agree with me in recent past”. In the report from February 6 this year, Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho admitted that Goa had become “an expensive place for travellers”.