Lok Sabha Question No. 4546 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-30
Subject: Fake Social Media Accounts
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Uday Pratap Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4546

TO BE ANSWERED ON 30.03.2022

## FAKE SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS

## 4546.   SHRI UDAY PRATAP SINGH:

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

- (a)  whether  the  Government  has  formulated  any  plan  to  combat  misleading  information, messages contents and advertisements being spread through fake social media accounts and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government proposes to enact any separate law to prosecute criminal cases against the mongers, fraudsters and people spreading fake news through social media platforms;
- (c) if so, the details thereof along with the time by which the said law is likely to be enacted; and
- (d) the State-wise details of the data related to criminal cases registered in this regard along with the actions taken thereon during the last two years?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR)

(a):The  Government  is  committed  to  Open,  Safe  &  Trusted  and  Accountable  internet.  The Government is  aware of the risk and danger posed by growing phenomena of fake news and dissemination of wrong information through various social media platforms. Cyberspace has the unique  characteristics  of  being  virtual,  borderless  and  anonymous.  Anyone  can  post,  share, communicate  any  message  from  anywhere  across  the  world  at  any  time.  This  makes  it challenging to identify and stop spread of misleading information and fake news on social media.

The  Government  has  taken  several  steps  to  address  the  challenges  of  misinformation  and rumours spreading via various online media platforms including social media, news channels and other online portals. These, inter alia, include:

- (i) The  Information  Technology  (Intermediary  Guidelines  and  Digital  Media  Ethics  Code) Rules,  2021  (IT  Rules,  2021)  under  the  Information  Technology  Act  (IT  Act),  2000 published  on  25 th February,  2021  require  that  the  intermediaries  follow  certain  due diligence as prescribed. They are required to publish privacy policy and terms of use of

their platform. They are required to inform their users not to host, display, upload, modify, publish,  transmit,  update  or  share  any  information  that  is  harmful,  objectionable,  and unlawful in  any  way.  They  are  also  required  to  remove  any  unlawful  content  related  to Article 19(2) of the Constitution of India or violative of any law, as and when brought to their knowledge either through a court order or through a notice by appropriate government or its agency. The Rules also require that publishers of online news observe the Code of Ethics which includes adherence to:

- Norms of Journalistic Conduct of the Press Council of India under the Press Council Act, 1978;
- Programme Code under section 5 of the Cable Television Networks Regulation) Act, 1995;
- Content which is prohibited under any law for the time being in force shall not be published or transmitted.
- (ii)  As per rule 4(2) of the above said Rules, a Significant Social Media Intermediary (SSMI) primarily providing messaging service are  required to identify  the first originator of the information  for  the  purposes  of  prevention, detection,  investigation,  prosecution  or punishment of an offence related to the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the  State,  friendly  relations  with  foreign  States,  or  public  order,  or  of  incitement  to  an offence relating to the above, or in relation with rape, sexually explicit material or child sexual abuse material based on notice from  lawful agencies or on the orders of the court.
- (iii)  Under  section  69A  of  the  IT  Act,  Ministry  of  Electronics  and  Information  Technology (MeitY)  does  blocking  of  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.
- (iv)  A  Fact  Check  Unit  has  been  setup  under  Press  Information  Bureau  of  Ministry  of Information  and  Broadcasting  in  November,  2019.  This  Unit  takes  cognizance  of  fake news both suo-motu and by way of queries sent by citizens on its portal or through e-mail and WhatsApp. The Unit responds to the relevant queries with correct information when the same pertains to Central Government or forwards them to States/UTs in other cases. The Unit also maintain social media accounts and posts cases of fake news, being busted, on the same on regular basis. The Fact Check Unit of PIB covers news on various media platforms, including electronic media.
- (v) 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  rumours/fake  news.  A  dedicated

website for information security awareness (https://www.infosecawareness.in) provides all the relevant awareness material.

- (vi)  MeitY  regularly  interacts  with  popular  social  media  intermediaries  and  issues  advisories from time to time including advisories issued in March, 2020 and in May, 2021 to curb availability of fake news related to Covid-19.

(b) and (c):There is no such proposal under active consideration of this Ministry.

(d): As per data maintained by the National Crimes Record Bureau (NCRB), a total of 190 and 578 cases of fake news on social media were registered during the year 2019 and 2020 respectively. Latest data pertains to the year 2020. The State-wise details is placed at Annexure-I

********

## Cases of fake news on social media in 2020

| SL                                    | State/UT                              | Fake News on Social Media (Sec.505)   |
|---------------------------------------|---------------------------------------|---------------------------------------|
| STATES:                               | STATES:                               |                                       |
| 1                                     | Andhra Pradesh                        | 106                                   |
| 2                                     | Arunachal Pradesh                     | 0                                     |
| 3                                     | Assam                                 | 0                                     |
| 4                                     | Bihar                                 | 5                                     |
| 5                                     | Chhattisgarh                          | 1                                     |
| 6                                     | Goa                                   | 0                                     |
| 7                                     | Gujarat                               | 12                                    |
| 8                                     | Haryana                               | 3                                     |
| 9                                     | Himachal Pradesh                      | 1                                     |
| 10                                    | Jharkhand                             | 0                                     |
| 11                                    | Karnataka                             | 0                                     |
| 12                                    | Kerala                                | 0                                     |
| 13                                    | Madhya Pradesh                        | 10                                    |
| 14                                    | Maharashtra                           | 29                                    |
| 15                                    | Manipur                               | 14                                    |
| 16                                    | Meghalaya                             | 9                                     |
| 17                                    | Mizoram                               | 0                                     |
| 18                                    | Nagaland                              | 0                                     |
| 19                                    | Odisha                                | 0                                     |
| 20                                    | Punjab                                | 0                                     |
| 21                                    | Rajasthan                             | 7                                     |
| 22                                    | Sikkim                                | 0                                     |
| 23                                    | Tamil Nadu                            | 64                                    |
| 24                                    | Telangana                             | 135                                   |
| 25                                    | Tripura                               | 0                                     |
| 26                                    | Uttar Pradesh                         | 109                                   |
| 27                                    | Uttarakhand                           | 0                                     |
| 28                                    | West Bengal                           | 58                                    |
| TOTAL STATE(S) 563 UNION TERRITORIES: | TOTAL STATE(S) 563 UNION TERRITORIES: | TOTAL STATE(S) 563 UNION TERRITORIES: |
| 29                                    | A&N Islands                           | 0                                     |
| 30                                    | Chandigarh                            | 0                                     |
| 31                                    | D&N Haveli and Daman &Diu             | 0                                     |
| 32                                    | Delhi                                 | 0                                     |
| 33                                    | Jammu &Kashmir                        | 15                                    |
| 34                                    | Ladakh                                | 0                                     |
| 35                                    | Lakshadweep                           | 0                                     |

## Annexure-I

| 36                        | Puducherry                | 0   |
|---------------------------|---------------------------|-----|
|                           | TOTAL UT(S)               | 15  |
|                           | TOTAL ALL INDIA           | 578 |
| ● As per data provided by | ● As per data provided by |     |

## Cases of fake news on social media in 2019

<!-- image -->

| S. No   | State/UT          | Fake News on Social Media (Sec.505)   |
|---------|-------------------|---------------------------------------|
| STATES: | STATES:           |                                       |
| 1       | Andhra Pradesh    | 36                                    |
| 2       | Arunachal Pradesh | 0                                     |
| 3       | Assam             | 22                                    |
| 4       | Bihar             | 0                                     |
| 5       | Chhattisgarh      | 1                                     |
| 6       | Goa               | 0                                     |
| 7       | Gujarat           | 5                                     |
| 8       | Haryana           | 0                                     |
| 9       | Himachal Pradesh  | 0                                     |
| 10      | Jammu &Kashmir    | 0                                     |
| 11      | Jharkhand         | 0                                     |
| 12      | Karnataka         | 0                                     |
| 13      | Kerala            | 13                                    |
| 14      | Madhya Pradesh    | 8                                     |
| 15      | Maharashtra       | 3                                     |
| 16      | Manipur           | 0                                     |
| 17      | Meghalaya         | 0                                     |
| 18      | Mizoram           | 0                                     |
| 19      | Nagaland          | 0                                     |
| 20      | Odisha            | 0                                     |
| 21      | Punjab            | 0                                     |
| 22      | Rajasthan         | 4                                     |
| 23      | Sikkim            | 0                                     |
| 24      | Tamil Nadu        | 41                                    |
| 25      | Telangana         | 19                                    |
| 26      | Tripura           | 0                                     |
| 27      | Uttar Pradesh     | 32                                    |
| 28      | Uttarakhand       | 0                                     |

<!-- image -->

| 29                                                                                                                                         | West Bengal                                                                                                                                | 6                                                                                                                                          |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                                                                                            | TOTAL STATE(S)                                                                                                                             | 190                                                                                                                                        |
| UNION TERRITORIES:                                                                                                                         | UNION TERRITORIES:                                                                                                                         |                                                                                                                                            |
| 30                                                                                                                                         | A&N Islands                                                                                                                                | 0                                                                                                                                          |
| 31                                                                                                                                         | Chandigarh                                                                                                                                 | 0                                                                                                                                          |
| 32                                                                                                                                         | D&N Haveli                                                                                                                                 | 0                                                                                                                                          |
| 33                                                                                                                                         | Daman &Diu                                                                                                                                 | 0                                                                                                                                          |
| 34                                                                                                                                         | Delhi                                                                                                                                      | 0                                                                                                                                          |
| 35                                                                                                                                         | Lakshadweep                                                                                                                                | 0                                                                                                                                          |
| 36                                                                                                                                         | Puducherry                                                                                                                                 | 0                                                                                                                                          |
| TOTAL UT(S)                                                                                                                                | TOTAL UT(S)                                                                                                                                | 0                                                                                                                                          |
| INDIA                                                                                                                                      | INDIA                                                                                                                                      | 190                                                                                                                                        |
| ● As per data provided by States/UTs ● Due to non-receipt of data from West Bengal in time for 2019, Data furnished for 2018 has been used | ● As per data provided by States/UTs ● Due to non-receipt of data from West Bengal in time for 2019, Data furnished for 2018 has been used | ● As per data provided by States/UTs ● Due to non-receipt of data from West Bengal in time for 2019, Data furnished for 2018 has been used |