Lok Sabha Question No. 2382 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-26
Subject: Misuse of Social Media
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: RAKSHA NIKHIL KHADSE

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2382

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 26.12.2018

## MISUSE OF SOCIAL MEDIA

## 2382.     SHRIMATI RAKSHATAI KHADSE:

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

- (a)   whether the Government proposes to address the challenge of misinformation and pernicious rumours spreading via social media platforms;
- (a) if so, the details thereof; and
- (b) the steps being taken to spread awareness among the users of social  media platforms?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI S.S. AHLUWALIA)

(a) and (b): The Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000 has provisions for removal of objectionable online content.  Social media platforms are intermediaries as defined in the Act. Section 69A of the Information Technology  (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 on being notified by appropriate government or its agency. The Information  Technology (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules 2011 notified  under  section  79 of  the  IT  Act  require  that  the  Intermediaries  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, affect minors and unlawful in any way.

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

-  Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) took note of media reports about spread of fake news, misinformation/disinformation on Internet particularly using WhatsApp platform and issued a notice to WhatsApp on 3.7.2018. In their response, WhatsApp conveyed a number of steps taken by them to address the issue of fake news propagated using their platform.
-  Ministry  of  Home  affairs  (MHA)  has  issued  a  number  of    advisories  which  includes  advisory  on untoward  incidents  in  the  name  of  protection  of  cows  dated  09.08.2016,  advisory  on  cyber  crime prevention  and  control  dated  13.01.2018  and    also  an  advisory  on  incidents  of  lynching  by  mobs  in some States fuelled by rumours of lifting/kidnapping of children dated 04.07.2018.
-  MeitY  and  MHA  as  well  as  Police  are  in  regular  touch  with  various  social  media  platforms  to effectively address the issue of removal of objectionable content.
- (c):  Government has taken various steps to spread awareness among the users  of social media platforms including:
- (i) MeitY through a program, namely, Information Security Education & Awareness (ISEA), has been highlighting  the  importance  of  following  the  ethics  while  using  Internet  and  advice  not  to  share rumours/fake news. A dedicated website for information security awareness (https://www.infosecawareness.in) has also been set up.
- (ii) CERT-In is conducting regular training programmes for network / system administrators and Chief Information  Security  Officers  (CISOs)  of  Government  and  critical  sector  organisations  regarding

securing  the  IT  infrastructure  and  mitigating  cyber  attacks.  22  trainings  covering  746  participants conducted in the year 2018 (till November).

- (iii) Government  has  initiated  mass  cyber  security  awareness  project.    One  such  project  has  been implemented in North-Eastern states of Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, Mizoram and Sikkim targeted towards creating awareness among youth and public including School / College students.
- (iv) MHA has created a Twitter Handle 'Cyber Dost' to spread awareness on cyber safety and cyber security. MHA has also published  a Handbook for Adolescents/Students on Cyber Safety.

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