Social Media Rules Need To Be More Accountable, Says IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw In Rajya Sabha

Social media needs to be made more accountable, Union Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, said in the Rajya Sabha on Friday. 

Representational image (Photo: Getty)

New Delhi: Social media needs to be made more accountable and stricter rules in this regard could be brought in if there is political consensus on the matter, Union Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, said in the Rajya Sabha on Friday. 

He was replying to a series of supplementaries in this regard, a PTI report said. The Information Technology Minister said that whenever the government has taken any step to make social media accountable, the opposition has accused it of curbing the freedom of speech.

"But it is not so," the PTI report quoted Vaishnaw as saying during the Question Hour.

In response to a query from Sushil Kumar Modi of the Bharatiya Janata Party on what action has been initiated against websites like 'BulliBai' that targeted Muslim women, the minister said that the government acted immediately when violation was brought to its notice.

"We have to bring about a balance and consensus to make social media accountable to ensure the safety and security of our women and our future generations," Vaishnaw said.

Social Media Rules Have To Be Strengthened: Information Technology Minister

The minister said that social media rules have to be strengthened for this. He also said that if the opposition accused the government of curbing freedom of speech, then it is wrong, the PTI report stated.

"We have to move together towards the new direction," the minister said.

Congress MP Anand Sharma asked the minister whether any verification process to effectively check the functioning of social media is done. Vaishnaw responded that there has been stricter social media accountability. 

"If the house has consensus, we are willing to provide even more stricter social media rules. I personally believe that for the protection of our citizens, we must make the rules stricter," the PTI report quoted the minister as saying.

"I agree with you that we have to come forward as a society and create much more accountability of the social media," the minister added.

Vaishnaw said that the government, at this point of time, is working within the constitutional framework and that the role of both states and the Centre has to be seen in perspective.

The minister said that the law enforcement agencies of the state governments are taking action based on the information which goes from certain agencies or his team.

He added that there is a framework created for any cyber crime that happens all over the country and it can be reported over a central portal. He said that it goes to the relevant law enforcement agency.

On action against websites like 'BulliBai', the minister said that this is a very sensitive matter. 

"This is a very sensitive matter. Protecting the dignity of women is a fundamental construct of our government and there cannot be any compromise of it. This is our commitment and there is no talk of any religion or region in it," the minister said.

He added that the government has initiated immediate action on this matter, and that action has not been merely on the surface but the Information Technology ministry has gone deeper by going to the root cause. 

The minister said that social media is all prevalent and has a lot of importance in our lives today, according to the PTI report. He further said that the government has brought comprehensive intermediary rules and guidelines for social media in 2021 on how to make social media safe and accountable, to avoid its misuse.

The minister said that under it, there were five institutional frameworks and all social media intermediates are obliged to publish their monthly compliance report online.

In his written reply, Vaishnaw said,"Social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook qualify as Intermediaries as per the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000. The Government is committed to ensure that the Internet in India is Open, Safe & Trusted and Accountable for all users."

The government, In line with the above objectives, has notified the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Codes) Rules, 2021 on February 25, 2021, to ensure that the internet is safe and trusted.

The minister said that the rules also provide for additional due diligence to be followed by Significant Social Media Intermediaries.