The internet has emerged as a potent tool to cause “unimaginable disruption” to democratic polity, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology told the SC, while seeking three months for finalising and notifying the rules that would regulate the functioning of social media intermediaries in the country. Though, expansion of internet has led to economic growth and societal development, there is also an exponential rise in hate speech, fake news and anti-national activities. A bench of justices Deepak Gupta and Surya Kant took the affidavit on record.
Crux of the Matter
The affidavit was filed in a transfer petition moved by Facebook seeking transfer of cases filed in three high courts, relating to linking of social media profiles with Aadhaar. SC had asked government to step in.
In reply to the petition the Information ministry asked for additional 3 months time to set up the required regulations and framework to effectively manage the problem keeping in mind the nation’s integrity and security.
Government has already initiated a wide-scale consultation process to revise the earlier rules with the participation and involvement of all the stakeholders. Ministry has also sought public opinion in this regard.
According to the affidavit filed by the ministry, an inter-ministerial consultation is also being planned so that effective, robust and comprehensive rules, covering all aspects of the matter, can be framed.
Curiopedia
Internet censorship in India is done by both central and state governments. DNS filtering and educating service users in suggested usages is an active strategy and government policy to regulate and block access to Internet content on a large scale. Also measures for removing content at the request of content creators through court orders have become more common in recent years. Initiating a mass surveillance government project like Golden Shield Project is also an alternative discussed over the years by government bodies. More Info
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