Lok Sabha Question No. 44 (STARRED), answered on 2020-02-05
Subject: Linking Social Media Profiles with Aadhaar Number
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Sunil Baburao Mendhe

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.*44

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 05.02.2020

## LINKING SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILES WITH AADHAAR NUMBER

## *44.  SHRI SUNIL BABURAO MENDHE:

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

- (a)  whether  the  Government  has  formulated/proposes  to  formulate  any  policy  to  link social media profile of the users with their Aadhaar number;
- (b) if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the measures taken by the Government to keep a check on the spread of fake news, pornographic and anti-national content on the social media?

## ANSWER

MINISTER FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

- (a) to (c):  A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *44 FOR 05-02-2020 REGARDING LINKING SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILES WITH AADHAAR NUMBER

………

- (a): There is no proposal with Ministry of Electronics and  Information Technology (MeitY) to link social media profiles of users with their Aadhaar number.
- (b): Does not arise.
- (c): Cyber space is a complex environment of people, software, hardware and services on the Internet. With a borderless cyberspace coupled with the possibility of instant communication and anonymity, the potential  for  misuse  of  cyberspace  and  social  media  platforms  for  criminal  activities  is  a  global  issue. There are media reports about social media platforms being misused to spread rumours, fake news and defame public personalities.

The Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000 has provisions for removal/blocking of objectionable online content. Social media platforms are intermediaries as defined in the Act. 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.

Further,  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.  The  Information  Technology  (Intermediary  Guidelines)  Rules  2011  notified  under  this section require 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.

Government has taken several steps to keep acheck on the spread of fake news, pornographic and antinational content via social media platforms. These, inter alia , include:

- (i) MeitY  took  note  of  media  reportsabout  spread  of  fake  news,  misinformation/disinformation  on Internet  particularly  using  social  media  platforms.  MeitY  interacted  with  social  media  platforms particularly WhatsApp. Further, social media platforms those have implemented a number of steps to address the issue of fake news propagated using their platform.
- (ii) Information Technology Act, 2000, inter alia , has provisions to deal with obscenity and pornography.  Sections  66E,  67,  and  67A  of  the  Act  provides  for  the  punishment  and  fine  for violation of privacy, publishing or transmitting of obscene material and publishing or transmitting of material containing sexually explicit material respectively in electronic form. Section 67B of the Act  specifically  provides  stringent  punishment  for  publishing,  browsing  or  transmitting  child pornography in electronic form
- (iii) Ministry  of  Home  affairs  (MHA)  has  issued  a  number  of  advisories  which  includes  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.
- (iv) 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  unlawful  content  as  well  as  spread  of  fake  news,  misinformation/disinformation  on

Internet.

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

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