Lok Sabha Question No. 659 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-02-05
Subject: Fake Social Media Accounts
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Dr. T. Sumathy (a) Thamizhachi Thangapandian

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 659

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 05.02.2020

## FAKE SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS

## 659.  DR. T. SUMATHY (a) THAMIZHACHI THANGAPANDIAN:

Will the Minister of Electronics & Information Technology be pleased to state:-

- (a)     whether the Government has any data on the number of fake social media accounts operating in the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (b)     whether the number of fake social media accounts has increased in the last three years and if so, the details thereof; and
- (c)    whether these accounts are used to spread rumors, fake news and misinformation on social media platforms and if so, the details thereof and the steps taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI SANJAY DHOTRE)

(a) and (b): Cyber space is a complex environment of people, software, hardware and services on the Internet.  The  borderless  cyberspace  coupled  with  the  possibility  of  instant  communication  and anonymity  provides  a  possibility  to  create  fake  accounts  on  social  media  platforms.  Ministry  of Electronics  and  Information  Technology  does  not  maintain  data  pertaining  to  fake  social  media accounts.

(c): The Information  Technology  (IT)  Act,  2000  has  provisions  for  removal  of  objectionable  online content. The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules 2011 notified under this section requires  that  the  intermediaries,  which  includes  social  media  platforms,  shall  observe  due  diligence while  discharging  their  duties  and  shall  inform  the  users  of  computer  resources  not  to  host,  display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, update or share any information that is harmful, objectionable, and unlawful  in  any  way.  Also,  section  79  of  the  Act  provides  that  intermediaries  are  required  to disable/remove unlawful content as and when brought to their knowledge by appropriate government or its agency or through a court order.

Further, section 69A of the IT Act, 2000 empowers Government to block any information generated, transmitted,  received,  stored  or  hosted  in  any  computer  resource  in  the  interest  of  sovereignty  and integrity of India, defence of India, security of the State, friendly relations with foreign states or public order or for preventing incitement to the commission of any cognizable offence relating to above.

Government has taken several steps to address the challenges of misinformation and rumors spreading via social media platforms. These, inter alia , include:

- (i) Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) as well as Police are in regular touch with various social media platforms to address the issues of removal of objectionable content as well as spread of fake news, misinformation/disinformation on Internet.
- (ii) Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued a number of advisories which include advisory on cyber-crime  prevention  and  control  dated  13.01.2018  and  also  an  advisory  on  incidents  of

lynching  by  mobs  in  some  States  fueled  by  rumors  of  lifting/kidnapping  of  children  dated 04.07.2018.

- (iii) MeitY  through  a  program,  namely,  Information  Security  Education  &  Awareness  (ISEA),  has been creating awareness among users highlighting the importance of following the ethics while using  Internet  and  advising  them  not  to  share  rumors/fake  news.  A  dedicated  website  for information security awareness (https://www.infosecawareness.in) provides all the relevant awareness material.

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