Lok Sabha Question No. 2417 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-21
Subject: Digital Security of Citizens
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Kalaben Mohanbhai Delkar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2417

TO BE ANSWERED ON 21.12.2022

## DIGITAL SECURITY OF CITIZENS

## 2417. SHRIMATI DELKAR KALABEN MOHANBHAI:

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

(a) whether efforts are being made by the Government to ensure digital security of citizens especially women;

(b) if so, the details thereof, State/UT-wise especially of Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu;

(c) whether the Government has issued any order to social media platform regarding content threatening the digital security of citizens and if so, the details thereof;

(d) whether the concerned department has consulted the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Women and Child Development regarding this issue; and

(e) if so, the detail thereof and the steps being taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

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

(a)  to  (c):  The  policies  of  the  Government  are  aimed  at  ensuring  an  Open,  Safe,  Trusted  and Accountable  Internet  for  its  users.  With  the  expansion  of  the  Internet  and  more  and  more  Indians coming online, the number of Indians, including women, exposed to cybercrime has also grown. The challenges in securing cyberspace also flow from its vastness and borderless nature.

The Information Technology Act, 2000 ('IT Act') and rules made thereunder contain several provisions for safeguarding users in the cyberspace. The IT Act penalises various cybercrimes relating to computer resources, including dishonestly or fraudulently accessing a computer resource without the permission of  its  owner  commonly  referred  to  as  hacking  (section  66),  identity  theft  (section  66C),  cheating  by impersonation (section  66D),  violation  of  bodily  privacy  (section  66E),  publishing  or  transmitting  of obscene material in electronic form (section 67), and publishing or transmission of material containing sexually  explicit  act  in  electronic  form  (section  67A  and  67B)  and  tampering  with  computer  source documents (section 65), etc. Each such cybercrime is punishable with imprisonment for a period that may extend to either three years or five years, and as per section 77B of the IT Act such cybercrimes are cognizable offences. These cybercrimes are in addition to various cognizable offences punishable under the Indian Penal Code, 1860, such as the cognizable offence of stalking using electronic communication (section 354D).

As  per  the  provisions  of  the  Code  of  Criminal  Procedure,  1973,  prevention  and  investigation  of cognizable offences is to be done by the police, and as per the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution, 'Police' is a State subject. As such, States are primarily responsible for the prevention, investigation etc. of such cybercrimes through the State police departments, which take preventive and penal action as per law, including in respect of cybercrimes against women and hacking of their social media accounts.

To ensure that  Internet  in  India  is  Open,  Safe,  Trusted  and  Accountable,  the  Central  Government,  in exercise  of  powers  conferred  by  the  IT  Act,  has  notified  amendment  to  the  Information  Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021('IT Rules, 2021'). These rules cast specific obligation on intermediaries vis-à-vis what kind of information is to be hosted, displayed, uploaded,  published,  transmitted,  stored  or  shared.  Intermediaries  are  also  required  to  remove  any content violative of any law for the time being in force as and when brought to their knowledge either through a court order or through a notice by appropriate government or its authorised agency. In case of failure  to  follow  diligence  as  provided  in  the  IT  Rules,  2021,  by  intermediaries,  they  shall  lose  their exemption from liability under section 79 of the IT Act and shall be liable for consequential action as provided in such law. Such diligence includes the following:

- (i) To  publish  on  their  website  and  app,  their  rules  and  regulations,  privacy  policy  and  user agreement;
- (ii) To inform the said rules to their users and to make reasonable efforts to cause the users not to host, display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, store, update or share, among others, information which belongs to another person, or is obscene, or is invasive of another's privacy, or is insulting or harassing on the basis of gender, or is racially or ethnically objectionable, or encourages money laundering, or promotes enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion or caste with the  intent  to  incite  violence,  or  is  harmful  to  child,  or  infringes  intellectual  property  rights,  or impersonates another person, or threatens the unity, integrity, defence, security or sovereignty of India or public order, or prevents investigation, or violates any law;
- (iii) Upon receipt of an order from a lawfully authorised government agency, to provide information or  assistance  for  prevention,  detection,  investigation  or  prosecution  under  law,  or  for  cyber security incidents;
- (iv) To  have  in  place  a  grievance  redressal  machinery,  and  resolve  complaints  of  violation  of  the rules within 72 hours of being reported;
- (v) In  case  an intermediary is a significant social media intermediary ( i.e., an  intermediary having more  than  50  lakh  registered  users  in  India),  to  additionally  observe  diligence  in  terms  of appointing  a  Chief  Compliance Officer,  a  nodal  contact  person  for  24x7  coordination  with  law enforcement agencies and a Resident Grievance Officer, publishing monthly compliance reports, etc.

Further,  the  amended  Rules  provide  for  the  establishment  of  one  or  more  Grievance  Appellate Committee(s)  to  allow  users  to  appeal  against  decisions  taken  by  Grievance  Officers  on  such complaints.

In  addition,  the  Ministry  of  Home  Affairs  operates  a  National  Cyber  Crime  Reporting  Portal (www.cybercrime.gov.in) to enable citizens to report complaints pertaining to all types of cybercrimes, with special focus on cybercrimes against women.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is also implementing the Information Security Education and Awareness (ISEA) Phase-II project to build capacities in the area of information security, train  government  personnel  and  create  mass  information  security  awareness  for  various  users.  Under this, a large number of awareness workshops have been conducted across the country, school teachers trained as master trainers to reach out to crores of users in the indirect mode through Cyber Safety and Cyber  Security  Awareness  Weeks  organised  in  select  cities  in  collaboration  with  State  Cyber  Cell  / Police departments, mass awareness programmes broadcasted through Doordarshan / All India Radio, bimonthly newsletters published in print and digital mode, and multilingual awareness content in the form of handbooks, multimedia short videos, posters etc., which have been disseminated through print, electronic  and  social  media  and  made  available  for  download  on  the  ISEA  awareness  portal (www.infosecawareness.in). A self-paced three module e-learning course on Cyber Hygiene Practices has also been made available on the portal, under which a large number of participants are registered and  many  have  also  obtained  certification.  The  material  designed  and  disseminated  includes  an exclusive  handbook  titled Information  Security  Awareness  handbook  for  Women,  and  booklets  on Cyber Security tips for Women and on Online Safety tips for Women@Home during COVID 19.

(d) and (e): The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology engages with all other Ministries/ Departments including Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Women and Child Development on various issues including matters related to digital safety of citizens on an ongoing basis and consults them as and when necessary.

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