Lok Sabha Question No. 2939 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-20
Subject: Governance of Social Media
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Pashupati Nath Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 2939

TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.12.2023

## GOVERNANCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA

## 2939.   SHRI PASHUPATI NATH SINGH:

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

- (a) whether the Ministry held a meeting with legal experts to discuss on various issues related to making social media secure and to govern social media platform in the country;

(b) if so, the details thereof including its outcomes thereof;

- (c) whether the Government has taken any concrete and effective steps to prevent misuse of social media by criminals and anti-national elements; and

(d) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(a) and (b): The policies of the Government are aimed at ensuring that the Internet in India is Open, Safe & Trusted and Accountable to all  users.

The Internet technology and Internet used to be seen as force for good, but in recent years, technology is also exploited for causing user harms and criminality. The number of Internet users  in  India  are  expected  to  increase  from  85  crores  today  to  120  crore  users  by  2026 making  India  the  largest  connected  democracy  on  the  global  Internet.  The  Government  is fully committed to exploit the good of the technologies but is cognizant of the harms, risks and  the  growing  rate  of  criminalities.  The  Government  intends  to  ensure  the  Internet  in general and information on it is safe& trusted and takes suitable steps on an ongoing basis to tackle the bad actors.

To ensure that the intermediaries including the social media platforms are always accountable to the safety & trust of the Users, the Government after extensive public consultations with relevant  stakeholders  has  laid  down  the  Information  Technology  (Intermediary  Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021('IT Rules, 2021') notified on 25.02.2021 and subsequently amended on 28.10.2022 and 6.4.2023 under Information Technology Act, 2000 ("IT Act').

The IT Rules, 2021 cast the following legal obligations, among others:

- (i) Rule 3(1)(b) of the IT Rules, 2021 prohibits eleven types of content on the Indian Internet available on the intermediary platform including social media platforms.
- (ii) Platforms  are  required  to  ensure  that  their  users  do  not  use  their  platforms  for sharing  or  transmitting  content  that  violates  Rule  3(1)(b)  and  other  laws  and  that their terms of use expressly restrict use of eleven types of content under the law.
- (iii) Rule  3(1)(b)(ii)  of  the  IT  Rules,  2021  prohibits  any  information  that  is  obscene, pornographic, paedophilic,  invasive  of  another's  privacy  including  bodily  privacy, etc.
- (iv) Rule 3(1)(b)(v) and (vi) of the IT Rules, 2021 prohibits misinformation and patently false information on the Indian Internet or that impersonates another person.Deepfakes are another form of misinformation powered by Al.
- (v) Rule  3(1)(d)  of  the  IT  Rules,  2021  mandates  the  platforms  to  ensure  expeditious action, well within the timeframes stipulated under the IT Rules, 2021, to remove or disable access to information/content that violates the aforesaid provisions of the IT Rules,  2021,  upon  receipt  of  court  orders  or  notification  from  the  Appropriate Government  or  its  authorised  agency  or  on  complaint  made  by  the  impersonated individual or person authorised by him in this behalf.
- (vi) Rule  4(2)  of  the  IT  Rules,  2021  prescribes  that  the  significant  social  media intermediaries shall cooperate with Law Enforcement Agencies (LEA) for prevention, detection, investigation, prosecution or punishment by enabling identification  of  the  first  originator  of  information  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 (CSAM).

The IT Rules, 2021cast specific legal obligations and place accountability on intermediaries, including  social  media  intermediaries  or  platforms,  to  ensure  that  they  are  accountable  for their  platforms  to  be  safe  &  trusted  and  not  carrying  any  content  that  is  violative  of  rule 3(1)(b)  including  their  expeditious  action  towards  removal  of  the  prohibited  obscenity, vulgarity,  misinformation,  patently  false  information  and  deepfakes.  As  the  accountability has  been  clearly  placed  upon  all  intermediary  platforms  including  social  media  and  if  any intermediary violates the IT Rules, 2021, they shall lose their safe harbour protection under section  79  of  the  Information  Technology  Act,  2000  ('IT  Act')  and  shall  be  liable  for consequential  action  or  prosecution  as  provided  under  any  law  for  the  time  being  in  force including the IT Act and the Indian Penal Code.

The  Government  uses  public  consultations  through  Digital  India  Dialogue  ('DID'),  as  an important  way  of  engaging  with  all  the  stakeholders  of  the  digital  ecosystem  to  ascertain various views from time to time. Every law and every rule have been developed with public consultations.

(c) and (d): To ensure that the intermediaries including the social media platforms are always accountable  to  the  safety  &  trust  of  the  Userss,  the  Government  after  extensive  public consultations  with  relevant  stakeholders  has  laid  down  the  IT  Rules,  2021  notified  on 25.02.2021  and  subsequently  amended  on  28.10.2022  and  6.4.2023  that  cast  serious  legal obligations on the platforms or intermediaries to not host or share content and prevent users from hosting or sharing any such content that has been outlined in eleven types of content prohibited under rule 3(1)(b) of the IT Rules, 2021.

Further, the Government exercises its lawful rights under section 69A of the IT Act, 2000 to direct  platform  to  take  down  any  anti-national  content  or  any  content  violative  of  national security from time to time.

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