Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Rajiv Chandrashekhar on Thursday said that the lack of security on the internet is due to bots and unregulated use of algorithms among other things.
Chandrasekhar, citing a Reuters report that Disney found ‘substantial’ fake Twitter users in 2016, tweeted that “platforms that ignore their legal responsibilities of due diligence and allow illegal activities and misinformation” are” a threat to a secure and reliable Internet.
The minister has been a vocal critic of social media sites which, according to him, do not follow Indian rules and regulations.
The social media post by Ku and a minister on Twitter is significant as it comes amid a legal battle between Twitter and the central government.
Twitter had approached the Karnataka High Court last month, challenging the Centre’s orders to remove the content under the new IT rules, saying it was an “abuse of power by the authorities”. The microblogging site has challenged a government order issued in June 2022, saying the blocking order was “overbroad and arbitrary”, failed to give notice to the originators of the content and was in many cases disproportionate.
Sources aware of the Twitter writ petition told PTI that several requests made by the government are allegedly for action against political content posted by the official handles of political parties and the firm has been asking citizens to block such information. views as a violation of freedom of expression. users of the forum.
On the same day, Chandrashekhar, without naming, said that foreign companies can approach the courts, but they are not exempted from local laws.
“#TuesdayMusing In India, everyone including foreign internet intermediaries/platforms have the right to court and judicial review. But equally all intermediaries/platforms operating here have a clear obligation to comply with our laws and regulations. #Open #SafeTrusted #Accountable #Internet,” the minister had tweeted.
The central government has been at loggerheads with Twitter over its policy for a long time.
Government officials including some senior ministers have openly promoted the use of domestic social media apps similar to Twitter, for example Ku – which has seen a huge increase in its user numbers in just 2 years due to its algorithms and local language. , The app now has over 45 million users, which is growing everyday. Some of the most important offices and top ministers are active users of the app.